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THE DECLARATION 
OF INDEPENDENCE 
=^=ITS HISTORY ^=^ 






THE DECLARATION 
OF INDEPENDENCE 
^=ITS HISTORY— 



I have sometimes asked myself whether my country is better for my 
having lived at all ? I do not know that it is. I have been the 
instrument of doing the following things ; but they would have been 
done by others ; some of them perhaps a little better. 



The declaration of independance 



Jefferson's Autobiograpbyi^) 



BY 



JOHN H. HAZELTON 




N EfF YORK 
AND COM 



• DODD, MEAD 
P A N Y • M CMVI 



"N 



P" 2,1. 



£8 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

FEB 1 1906 

Copyright Entry 

LASS A- XXc, No. 

COPY A. 



I 



Copyright, igo6. 
By Dodd, Mead and Company. 

Published, February, 1906 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 



Preface 



THIS work IS offered to the American people 
not only in the hope that it may be welcomed 
as a readable and reliable history of the Declar- 
ation of Independence but in the hope that it may in 
some degree tend to keep alive in their hearts the love of 
Liberty that possessed the Fathers. 

Benjamin Rush writes, to Rev. Mr. Gordon, at Rox- 
bury, Mass., December lo, 1778: "[Rid] Put us not off 
with Great Britain's acknowledging our independance 
Alas ! the great Ultimatum of our modern patriots. It 
is liberty alone that can make us happy. And without 
it the memorable 4^^ of July 1776 will be execrated by 
posterity as the day in which pandora's box was opened 
in this country. I am impatient to see your history." 

That there are numerous quotations between its cov- 
ers is due to a belief of the author that the subject called 
less for his own views than for facts, and also to a belief 
that the very words afforded the most pleasing presenta- 
tion. 

From some of those whose names have come down 
to us, numerous quotations have been made ; from others, 
none at all. In this, there has been no intent to slight any 
particular person or Colony. Many of the patriots were 



PREFACE 

engaged In other fields, equally important to the cause, 
and had nothing to do directly with the Declaration. 
Many others, we believe, never put their thoughts or 
described their deeds on paper. Still more perhaps were 
unfortunate (or fortunate) enough to have their writings 
either destroyed or lost. Indeed, John Adams writes to 
William Tudor, June 5, 1817 : "The letters he [Samuel 
Adams] wrote and received, where are they ? I have seen 
him, at Mrs. Yard's in Philadelphia, when he was about 
to leave Congress, cut up with his scissors whole bundles 
of letters into atoms that could never be reunited, and 
throw them out of the window, to be scattered by the 
winds. This was in summer, when he had no fire . . . ** 

As to the accuracy of the history, it can be said that, 
without regard to the labor involved, original sources, 
wherever practicable, have been examined personally. 

The author gratefully acknowledges courtesies ex- 
tended to him by Charles Francis Adams, by James G. 
Barnwell and Bunford Samuel, of The Library Company 
of Philadelphia, by Edmund M. Barton, of the American 
Antiquarian Society, by John D. Crimmins and W. M. 
Reynolds, by Wilberforce Eames and Victor H. Paltsits, 
of the New York Public Library (Lenox), by Worthing- 
ton Chauncey Ford, of the Library of Congress, by Simon 
Gratz, by Dr. Samuel A. Green, of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society, by S. M. Hamilton, formerly of the 
Bureau of Rolls and Library of the Department of State, 
by Dr. L Minis Hays, of The American Philosophical 
Society, by John W. Jordan, of The Historical Society 
of Pennsylvania, by Robert H. Kelby, of the New York 
Historical Society, by Otto Kelsey, Comptroller of the 

vi 



PREFACE 

State of New York, by J. Pierpont Morgan and Junius S. 
Morgan, by John Boyd Thacher, by George C. Thomas 
and A. Howard Ritter and by Arnold J. F. van Laer, 
of the New York State Library, in the examination of 
original manuscripts ; by Worthington Chauncey Ford, 
in the securing of photographs of manuscripts, etc. ; by 
Z. T. Hollingsworth ; by Joseph F. Sabin ; and by 
others mentioned. 

J. H. H. 

New York, 1905. 



vii 



Contents 



Page 

I. Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-four . . 3 

II. Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-five ... 13 

III. Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-six ... 40 

IV. Initial Steps 109 

V. The Postponement 123 

VI. Drafting the Declaration 141 

VII. The Last Days . 156 

VIII. Nev^ York and Pennsylvania 181 

IX. The Signing 193 

X. The Effect of the Declaration and v^hat 

WAS thought of it 220 

XL The Firev^orks of 1776 . 240 

XII. The First Anniversary in Philadelphia . 282 

XIII. The Declaration on Parchment since 1776 284 

Appendix 293 

Notes to Text 361 

Notes to Appendix 589 

y 605 

Inde^ 

^ ''' 



\ 



/ 



Illustrations 



Chamber in "Independence Hall" where Congress sat . Frontispiece 
Copy of resolutions of the Convention of Virginia, with 
endorsement of Charles Thomson, Secretary of Con- 
gress Between pp. 80 and 81 

Resolutions of June 7th, in the handwriting of Richard 

Henry Lee , Facing p. 108 

Resolution of committee of the whole of June loth . ,, ,, 116 •''' 
JeiFerson's ** Rough draught". . . . Between pp. 144 and 145 
Resolution of committee of the whole of July 1st and 

vote in Congress on July 2d Facing p. 164 

First newspaper announcement of the passage of the 
resolution declaring the Colonies free and independ- 
ent States ,, ,, 166- 

Pages 94 and 95 of the rough Journal, with Declara- 
tion printed by John Dunlap under the order of Con- 
gress ,, „ 170 ' 

Page 7 of Jefferson's notes „ ,, 204 

Copperplate facsimile of Declaration on parchment . ,, ,, 208 

Declaration on parchment as it now looks ,, ,, 218 /'^ 

Declaration printed by Mary Katharine Goddard . , . ,, „ 284 .^ 



v./ 



The Declaration of Independence: 
Its History 



The 

Declaration of Independence 
Its History 

I 

SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR 



s 



EVENTEEN hundred and seventy-four saw the 
people at large for the first time recognize that 
the cause of Boston was a common cause. 



Accordingly, it was determined to hold a meeting of 
Delegates from the various Colonies ; and Philadelphia 
was chosen as the place and the 5th of September as the 
day of meeting. 

When the time approached, " Washington ", says ^ 
Irving, "was joined at Mount Vernon by Patrick 
Henry and Edmund Pendleton, and they performed the 
journey together on horseback. It was a noble com- 
panionship. Henry was then in the youthful vigor and 
elasticity of his bounding genius ; ardent, acute, fanciful, 
eloquent. Pendleton, schooled in public life, a veteran 
in council, with native force of intellect, and habits of 
deep reflection. Washington, in the meridian of his 
days, mature in wisdom, comprehensive in mind, saga- 
cious in foresight." 

3 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

We have even a more interesting account of the 
journey of the Delegates of Massachusetts. 

She had selected James Bowdoin, Samuel and John 
Adams, Thomas Gushing and Robert Treat Paine. 
Bowdoin having decUned the appointment, the others 
set out from Boston, from Cushing's house, in one 
coach, August loth. 

On the 15th, they were in Hartford, whither Silas 
Deane came to meet them ; and, from him, they received 
an account of the New York Delegates, with whom they 
were unacquainted. On the i6th, about dusk, they 
arrived in New Haven ; and " all the bells in town were 
set to ringing*'. There, the next day, at the tavern 
(Isaac Bears'), Roger Sherman called upon them, and 
expressed the opinion " that the Parliament of Great 
Britain had authority to make laws for America in no 
case whatever." 

On the 20th, they " Lodged at Cock's, at Kings- 
bridge"; then breakfasted at Day's ; and arrived in New 
York " at ten o'clock, at Hull's, a tavern, the sign the 
Bunch of Grapes ", whence they " went to private lodg- 
ings at Mr. Tobias Stoutenberg's, in King Street, very 
near the City Hall one way, and the French Church the 
other." John Adams writes in his Diary : " The streets 
of this town are vastly more regular and elegant than 
those in Boston, and the houses are more grand, as well 
as neat. They are almost all painted, brick buildings 
and all." 

At 9 o'clock on the 26th, they " crossed Paulus Hook 
Ferry to New Jersey, then Hackinsack Ferry, then 
Newark Ferry, and dined at Elizabethtown "; and thence 

4 



ITS HISTORT 

on to Brunswick. About noon on the 27th, they came 
to the tavern in Princeton, " which holds out the sign 
of Hudibras, near Nassau Hall College. The tavern 
keeper's name is Hire." Here they spent Sunday also, 
when they heard Dr. John Witherspoon preach, and, 
from Jonathan D. Sergeant, learned of the Delegates 
from Pennsylvania and Virginia, with whom also they 
were unacquainted, and still more of the Delegates from 
New York. 

Having breakfasted, on Monday, at Trenton, they 
crossed the Delaware and passed through Bristol to 
Frankford^ five miles from Philadelphia, where a number 
of gentlemen came from that city to meet them — among 
them, Thomas M:Kean, Thomas Mifflin, John Sullivan, 
Nathaniel Folsom and (?) Rutledge. They " then rode 
into town, and dirty, dusty, and fatigued as we were," 
writes John Adams in his Diary ^ " we could not resist 
the importunity to go to the tavern, the most genteel 
one in America", where they met Thomas Lynch. 
Adams, on taking a walk around the city the next day, 
was much impressed with its " regularity and elegance ", 
in comparison with the " cowpaths " of Boston. On 
the last day of August, he and his associates moved their 
"lodgings to the house of Miss Jane Port, in Arch Street, 
about halfway between Front Street and Second Street". 

On September 1st, in the evening, the Massachusetts 
Delegates, together with the Delegates from the other 
Colonies who had arrived in Philadelphia, 25 in number, 
met at Smith's, the new City Tavern. The Adamses, 
Cushing and Paine were introduced, the next day, to 
Peyton Randolph, Benjamin Harrison and Richard 

5 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Henry Lee. On the 3d, they met Matthew Tilghman 
(perhaps) and Cassar Rodney. 

Two days later (Monday, the 5th of September, the 
day which had been set for the meeting), " At ten ", 
writes John Adams in his Diary ^ "the delegates^ all 
met at the City Tavern, and walked to the Carpenters' 
Hall, where they took a view of the room, and of the 
chamber where is an excellent library ; there is also a 
long entry where gentlemen may walk, and a convenient 
chamber opposite to the library. The general cry was, 
that this was a good room ..." 

Thus began what has since become known as the First 
Continental Congress. 

The Journal shows us that, on this day, Cushing, 
Samuel*^ and John^^ Adams and Paine *^ of Massa- 
chusetts, Sullivan and Folsom of New Hampshire, 
Stephen Hopkins* and Samuel Ward of Rhode Island, 
Eliphalet Dyer, Deane and Sherman*^ of Connecticut, 
James Duane^, John Jay ^^~, Philip Livingston *^\ Isaac 
Low and William Floyd *^^ of New York, James Kin- 
sey, WiUiam Livingston ^^, John De Hart, Steven Crane 
and Richard Smith of New Jersey, Joseph Galloway, 
Samuel Rhoads, Mifflin, Charles Humphreys, John 
Morton* and Edward Biddle of Pennsylvania, Rod- 
ney*^*, M:Kean* and George Read* of Delaware, Robert 
Goldsborough, William Paca*^^ and Samuel Chase *^^ of 
Maryland, Randolph, Washington, Henry, Richard 
Bland, Harrison *^^ and Pendleton of Virginia and Henry 
Middleton, John and Edward *^^ Rutledge, Christopher 
Gadsden and Thomas Lynch ^^ of South Carolina were 
present. R. H. Lee^^osi ^f Virginia and Thomas John- 

6 



ITS HISTORT 

son, Jr., of Maryland took their seats on the next day. 
Tilghman of Maryland did not attend until the I2th; 
William Hooper* and Joseph Hewes* of North Caro- 
lina, Henry Wisner^ and John Alsop^ of New York 
and George Ross * of Pennsylvania until the 14th ; 
Richard Caswell of North Carolina until the 17th ; John 
Herring of New York until the 26th ; Simon Boerum 
of New York until October ist; and John Dickinson^* 
of Pennsylvania until October 17th. 

Randolph ^ was unanimously chosen President ; and 
Charles Thomson of Pennsylvania became ^^ Secretary. 

This Congress agreed not to import, after the ist of 
December, any goods, wares or merchandise from Great 
Britain or Ireland, or any East India tea, or any mo- 
lasses, syrups, paneles, coffee or pimento from the 
British plantations or Dominica, or any wines from 
Madeira or the Western Islands or any foreign indigo ; 
and the Delegates embodied in the agreement a non- 
consumptive clause, binding themselves, as an effectual 
security for the observation of the non-importation. // 
was the beginning of the American Union, 

Toward declaring independence^ however, the First 
Continental Congress took no action whatever ; nor does 
such a measure seem to have been considered even as a 
possibility. 

Indeed, the association spoken of, of October 20th, 
itself avowed allegiance to his Majesty ; and the ad- 
dress of this Congress to the King stated that the 
Colonists yielded to no other British subjects in 
affectionate attachment to his Majesty's person, family 
and government 

7 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Nor was there any real thought of independence among 
the people at large ; though Hooper writes, to James 
Iredell, April 26th : " [I] They [the Colonies] are striding 
fast to independence, and ere long will build an empire 
upon the ruin of Great Britain ; will adopt its constitution 
purged of its impurities, and from an experience of its 
defects will guard against those evils which have wasted 
its vigor and brought it to an untimely end ... I know 
too well your reverence for our Constitution not to for- 
give it in another, although it borders upon enthusiasm." 

On May 31st, John Scollay writes — from Boston ! — 
to Arthur Lee : " We have too great a regard for our 
parent State (although cruelly treated by some of her 
illegitimate sons) to withdraw our connection." The 
General Assembly of New Jersey declared, July 21st, 
that their people and, indeed, the whole country " detest 
all thoughts of an independence . . ." Even Washing- 
ton, in a letter to Captain Mackenzie, written in October, 
says ; " [H] Give me leave to add, and I think I can 
announce it as a fact, that it is not the wish or interest 
of that government [Massachusetts], or any other upon 
this continent, separately or collectively, to set up for 
independence." 

These views are borne out by a letter dated April 1 2, 
1776, from "A. B." to Alexander Pardie : "It may, 
with certainty, be affirmed, that, among the ends which 
the Colonies (from South-Carolina to New York, in- 
clusively) had in view when they began the present 
contest, independence held no place ; and that the New- 
England Governments, if they had it in view at all, con- 
sidered it as a remote and contingent object." 

8 



ITS HISTORT 

Most of the few who desired a separation lived in or 
about Boston. " A view to independence grows more 
and more general '' appears in a letter from Dr. Ben- 
jamin Church intercepted by Washington at Cambridge 
in October. 

There, Samuel Adams was a central figure. 

On April 4th, he writes to Arthur Lee : " [W] ... if 
the British administration and government do not return 
to the principles of moderation and equity, the evil which 
they profess to aim at preventing by their rigorous 
measures, will the sooner be brought to pass, viz. — the 
entire separation and independence of the Colonies ... It 
requires but a small portion of the gift of discernment 
for anyone to foresee that Providence will erect a mighty 
empire in America ..." 

Of the opinions of John Adams during this year re- 
specting independence, we have found no contemporane- 
ous record ; but a letter to Timothy Pickering, describing 
the trip to Philadelphia, written many years later (August 
6, 1822) says : "[Ms] I can write nothing which will not 
be suspected of personal vanity, local prejudice or Pro- 
vincial & State partiality . . . As Mf. Hancock was sick 
and confined M' Bowdoin was chosen at the head of 
the Massachusetts delegation to Congress. His relations 
thought his great fortune ought not to be hazarded. 
Cushing, two Adams's and Paine . . . were met at Frank- 
fort by D' Rush, M' Mifflin, M' Bayard and several 
others of the most active Sons of Liberty, in Philadelphia, 
who desired a conference with us. We invited them to 
take Tea with us in a private apartment. They asked 
leave to give us some information and advice, which we 

9 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

thankfully granted. They represented to us, that the 
friends of Government in Boston and in the Eastern 
States, in their correspondence with their friends in 
Pennsylvania and all the Southern States, had represented 
us as four desperate adventurers. M' Gushing was a 
harmless kind of man ; but poor, and wholly dependent 
upon his popularity for his subsistence. M' Samuel 
Adams was a very artful designing man, but desperately 
poor and wholly dependent on his popularity with the 
lowest vulgar for his living. John Adams and M' 
Paine were two young Lawyers of no great talents repu- 
tation or weight, who had no other means of raising 
themselves into consequence but by courting popularity. 
We were all suspected of having Independence in view. 
Now, said they, you must not utter the word Independ- 
ence, nor give the least hint or insinuation of the idea, 
neither in Gongress or any private conversation ; if you 
do — you are undone; for the idea of Independence is 
as unpopular in Pennsylvania and in all the middle and 
Southern States as the Stamp Act itself. No Man dares 
to speak of it. Moreover, you are the Representatives 
of the suffering State . . . you are thought to be too 
warm, too zealous, too sanguine, you must be therefore 
very cautious. You must not come forward with any 
bold measures : you must not pretend to take the lead. 
You know Virginia is the most populous State in the 
Union. They are very proud of their antient Dominion, 
as they call it ; they think they have a right to take the 
lead, and the Southern States and the middle States too, 
are too much disposed to yield it to them. This . . . 
made a deep impression on my mind and it had an equal 

lO 



ITS HISTORT 

effect on all my Colleagues. This conversation and the 
principles, facts and motives suggested in it, have given a 
colour, complection and character to the whole policy 
of the United States, from that day to this. Without 
it . . . M' Jefferson [would never] have been the 
Author of the declaration of Independence, nor M' 
Richard Henry Lee the mover of it . . . Although this 
advice dwelt deeply on my mind, I had not in my nature 
prudence and caution enough always to observe it ... It 
soon became rumoured about the City that John Adams 
was for Independence ; the Quakers and Proprietary 
gentlemen, took the alarm ; represented me as the worst 
of men ; the true-blue-sons of Liberty pitied me ; all 
put me under a kind of Coventry. I was avoided 
like a man infected with the Leprosy. I walked the 
Streets of Philadelphia in solitude, borne down by the 
weight of care and unpopularity. But every ship for 
the ensuing year, brought us fresh proof of the truth of 
my prophesies, and one after another became convinced 
of the necessity of Independence." 

Of Virginians, very many think that Henry contributed 
more than any other man to light the fires of the Revo- 
lution ; and Wirt goes^^ much farther — claiming for 
him the credit of being the first of all the leading men of 
the Colonies to suggest independence. In the account 
of this patriot's burst of eloquence, in 1773, he tells us 
that one of the audience reported that " the company ap- 
peared to be startled ; for they had never heard anything of 
the kind even suggested." Henry, in speaking of Great 
Britain, (his biographer continues) said : " I doubt 
whether we shall be able, alone^ to cope with so powerful 

II 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

a, nation. But where is France ? Where is Spain ? 
Where is Holland? the natural enemies of Great Britain 
— Where will they be all this time? . . . Will Louis 
the XVI. be asleep all this time ? Believe me, no ! 
When Louis the XVL shall be satisfied by our serious 
opposition, and our Declaration of Independence^ that all 
prospect of reconciliation is gone, then, and not till then, 
will he furnish us with arms, ammunition, and clothing; 
and not with these only, but he will send his fleets and 
armies to fight our battles for us ; he will form with us 
a treaty offensive and defensive, against our unnatural 
mother. Spain and Holland will join the confederation ! 
Our independence will be established ! and we shall take 
our stand among the nations of the earth." 

Even Wirt's claim, however, is outdone by Dr. Joseph 
Johnson. He says^^ : " We claim for Christopher Gads- 
den that he first spoke of Independence in 17^^, to his 
friends under Liberty Tree, and there renewed the sub- 
ject in 1766, rather than submit to the unconstitutional 
taxes of Great Britain." 



12 



II 

SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE 

SEVENTEEN hundred and seventy-five is the 
year of Paul Revere's ride — the year of Lex- 
ington and Concord and Bunker Hill. 
War had become a reality. 

Strangely enough, however, the majority of the people 
still desired reconciliation ^ — the love of Liberty of the 
Anglo-Saxon, as a race, not yet having overcome in them 
the cradle-nurtured spirit of the subject; and, of the 
comparatively few who favored independence, many 
feared and others seemed ashamed openly to express 
their opinions. 

Only six days before the end of the year, Portsmouth, 
N. H., instructed^ her Representatives to the Provin- 
cial Congress^: "We are of opinion that the present 
times are too unsettled to admit of perfecting a firm, 
stable and permanent government [for New Hampshire]; 
and that to attempt it now would injure us, by furnishing 
our enemies in Great Britain with arguments to persuade 
the good people there that we are aiming at independency, 
which we totally disavow . . . We particularly recom- 
mend, that you strictly guard against every measure that 
may have a tendency to cause disunion . . ." 

13 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Even in Boston, — when delivering too the oration to 
commemorate the tragedy of March 5, 1770! — Dr. 
Joseph Warren expressed himself thus : " An independ- 
ence on Great Britain is not our aim. No, our wish is 
that Britain and the Colonies may, like the oak and ivy, 
grow and increase in strength together . . .'* Indeed, 
after the battle of Lexington^ the same orator said : " This 
[reconciliation] I most heartily wish, as I feel a warm 
affection for the parent state ..." 

William Gordon writes from Jamaica Plain, July 30th, 
to Mrs. Elizabeth Smith at Weathersfield : " [N] I 
still retain with you an affection for our native country, 
& wish to have matters accommodated, if it is the will 
of heaven, without a total separation." 

The Provincial Congress itself of Massachusetts, in its 
address to the inhabitants of Great Britain, declared, 
April 26th: "We profess to be his loyal and dutiful 
subjects ; and so hardly dealt with as we have been, are 
still ready, with our lives and fortunes, to defend his per- 
son, family, crown, and dignity." 

" Brother Jonathan " (Trumbull) writes, to the Earl 
of Dartmouth, in March : " We consider the interests of 
the two countries as inseparable, and are shocked at the 
idea of any disunion between them . . . The good people 
of this Colony [Connecticut], my Lord, are unfeignedly 
loyal, and firmly attached to his Majesty*s person, family, 
and government." 

As for New York, under no circumstances could she 
yet tolerate the idea of independence. On June 26th, 
the Provincial Congress approved of an address, to be 
delivered to Washington, who was on his way to take 

14 



ITS HIS TORT 

command of the army, in which they spoke of " (that 
fondest wish of each American soul) an accommodation 
with our Mother Country " ; the Committee of " Man- 
hattan "5 on August 4th, finding that a Mr. Archer 
(" lately " of Philadelphia) had propagated a report there 
that Congress had resolved " that unless American 
grievances were redressed by the first of March, these 
Colonies should be independent of Great Britain . . . 
Resolved, That the author of such report is guilty of a 
malicious attempt to represent the Continental Congress 
as intending to cast off the connexion and dependence of 
the Colonies on Great Britain, and thereby to widen the 
unhappy breach already subsisting between them " ; and 
the Provincial Congress again, four months later, declared 
"That the supposed present ^turbulent state' of this 
Colony arises not . . . from a desire to become inde- 
pendent . . ." 

The Assembly of Delaware instructed her Delegates, 
March 29th : " That in every act to be done in Congress, 
you studiously avoid, as you have heretofore done, every- 
thing disrespectful or offensive to our most gracious 
Sovereign, or in any way invasive of his just rights and 
prerogative." '• 

" Camillus ", in a Pennsylvania newspaper, thus con- 
cisely compares the rights of the Colonists with those of 
the citizens of the mother country : 



* In England 

1. A tryal by a jury of his country, 
in all cases of life and property. 

2. A tryal where the offence was 
committed. 



In America 

I. A tryal by jury only in some 
cases, subjected in others to a single 
Judge, or a Board of Commissioners. 
z. A tryal, if a Governor pleases, 
3000 miles from the place where the 
offence was committed. 



15 



JDECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



3. A civil authority supreme over 
the military, and no standing army in 
time of peace kept up, but by the 
consent of the people. 

4. The Judges independent of the 
Crown and people. 



5. No tax or 
by those who 
burthen. 



imposition laid, but 
must partake of the 



3. The military superior to the civil 
authority, and America obliged to 
contribute to the support of a standing 
army, kept up without and against 
its consent. 

4. The Judges made independent 
of the people, but dependent on the 
Crown for the support and tenure of 
their commissions. 

5. Taxes and impositions laid by 
those, who not only do not partake of 
the burthens, but who ease themselves 
by it. 

6. A trade only to such places as 
Great-Britain shall permit. 

7. The use only of such engines as 
Great-Britain has not prohibited. ^ 

8. Promoting and encouraging pe- 
titions to the King declared the 
highest presumption, and the legisla- 
tive Assemblies of America dissolved 
therefor in 1768. 

9. Assemblies dissolved, their legis- 
lative power suspended, for the free ex- 
ercise of their reason and judgment, 
in their legislative capacity. 

10. To prevent the redress of 
grievances, or representations tending 
thereto. Assemblies postponed for a 
great length of time, and prevented 
meeting in the most critical times. 

It is very significant of tn^^spirit of the times that the 
same writer should declare: "*When I hear America 
charged with aspiring after independance, I ask, Were we 
independant on Great-Britain in 1762? That is the aera 
to which we all look back with regret, and to which we 
are anxiously seeking to return." " ^ That the Ameri- 
cans have entire independance on the Mother Country 
in view, as the great object of their present contest . . . 
[is] false and groundless ..." 

16 



6. A free trade to all the world, ex- 
cept the East-Indies. 

7. A free use and practice of all 
engines and other devices, for saving 
labour and promoting manufactures. 

8. A right to petition the King, 
and all prosecutions and commitments 
therefor illegal. 



9. Freedom of debate and proceed- 
ings in their legislative deliberations. 



10. For redress of grievances, amend- 
ing, strengthening and preserving the 
laws, parliaments to be held frequently. 



ITS HISTORT 

Even Franklin — in a letter to Lord Howe, dated July 
20, 1776 — declares that " [X] tears of joy . . . wet my 
cheek, when, at your good sister's in London, you once 
gave me expectations that a reconciliation might soon 
take place." Indeed, in a letter to his son, written at 
sea, March iid (1775), — speaking of a visit he had paid 
to Lord Chatham in London — he writes : " I assured 
him that, having more than once travelled almost from 
one end of the Continent to the other, and kept a great 
variety of company, eating, drinking, and conversing 
with them freely, I never had heard in any conversation 
from any person, drunk or sober, the least expression of 
a wish for a separation, or a hint that such a thing would 
be advantageous to America ... he expressed much 
satisfaction ... in the assurances I had given him that 
America did not aim at independence.''^ 

The Assembly of Pennsylvania instructed her Dele- 
gates, November 9th : "We strictly enjoin you, that you, 
in behalf of this Colony, dissent from, and utterly reject, 
any propositions, should such be made, that may cause 
or lead to a separation from our Mother Country . . ." 

Similar views prevailed in Maryland. 

On August 2d, one of her clergymen writes to England : 
"The King has not more affectionate or loyal subjects 
in any part of his dominions than the Americans. They 
desire no other King ; they wish not a division from, or 
independence on the Mother Country." 

The instructions of December to her Delegates in 
Congress contained the expressions " our strong desire 
of reconciliation " and " disavowing in the most solemn 
manner, all design in these Colonies of independence ". 

17 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton writes, from Annapolis to 
Washington (?), September 26th: "[N] If a treaty is 
but once set on foot, I think, it must terminate in a last- 
ing & happy peace ; an event, I am persuaded, you 
most earnestly desire, as every good citizen must, in 
which number you rank foremost ... If we can not 
obtain a peace on safe & just terms, my next wish is, that 
you may extort by force from our enemies what their 
policy, & justice should have granted, and that you 
may long live to enjoy the fame of the best, the noblest 
deed, the defending & securing the liberties of your 
country." 

An idea of the feeling in Virginia in the early part of 
the year is given us by Wirt. He says that, when (March 
23d) Henry offered, in the old church in Richmond, the 
resolutions that the Colony be put immediately into a 
state of defence, " some of the warmest patriots of the 
convention opposed them. Richard Bland, Benjamin 
Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton . . . resisted them with 
all their influence and abilities." He adds that it was by 
Henry*s eloquence only that the resolutions were carried. 

We know that, later in the year, Thomas Ander- 
son was " charged with saying . . . that this Country 
. . . aimed at a state of independence," and was acquitted 
(September 5th) by the Committee of Hanover County 
" from further prosecution " only upon signing a 
concession. 

The position of Jefferson is outlined in his own letters.^ 
He writes from Monticello, August 25th, to John 
Randolph : " [K] I am sincerely one of those [wishing 
reunion], and would rather be in dependence on Great 

18 



ITS HISTORY 

Britain, properly limited, than on any nation upon earth, 
or than on no nation. But I am one o^ those, too, who, 
rather than submit to the rights of legislating for us, 
assumed by the British Parliament . . . would lend my 
hand to sink the whole island in the ocean." To the 
same gentleman, November 29th, he says : " [K] . . . 
there is not in the British empire a man who more 
cordially loves a union with Great Britain, than I do. 
But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist 
before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British 
ParUament propose ; and in this I think I speak the 
sentiments of America. If^e want neither inducement nor 
power y to declare and assert a separation. It is will^ alone, 
which is wanting, and that is growing apace under the 
fostering hand of our King.'* 

So is also the position of General Charles Lee. On 
the 1st day of the last month of the year, he writes, to 
General Burgoyne : " You ask me, in your letter, if it is 
independence at which the Americans aim ? I answer 
no; the idea never entered a single i^merican's head until 
a most intolerable oppression forced it^ upon them . . . 
On the contrary, do they not all breathe the strongest 
attachment and filial piety for their parent country ? . . . 
I swear by all that 's sacred . . . that I most earnestly 
and devoutly love my native country ; that I wish the 
same happy relation to subsist for ages, betwixt her and 
her children, which has raised the wide arch of her empire 
to so stupendous and enviable a height ; but at the same 
time I avow, that if the Parliament and people should 
be depraved enough to support any longer the present 
Ministry in their infernal scheme ... I would advise 

19 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

not to hesitate a single instant, but decisively to cut the 
Gordian knot now besmeared with civil blood " ; and, 
three days later, speaking of this letter, he says, from 
" [BT] Camp on Prospect Hill", to Dr. Benjamin Rush, 
that it "in my opinion is the best of my performances. 
I beHeve it does not tally with your political creed in 
some parts — but I am convinced that you have not 
virtue enough for independence nor do I think it calcu- 
lated for your happiness ; besides I have some remaining 
prejudices as an Englishman — but you will judge from 
the perusal of my letter whether they are honest and lib- 
eral — if they shock you be gentle in your censures." 

North Carolina, at least in one County, was more 
advanced — though to just what extent has been much 
mooted. 

In the Essex Register (C) — published in Salem, Mass. 
— of June 5, 1 8 19, appeared the following: 

From the Raleigh Register. ^ 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

It is not probably known to many of our readers, that the citi- 
zens of Mecklenburg county, in this state, made a declaration of 
independence more than a year before Congress made theirs. The 
following document on the subject has lately come in the hands 
of the editor ^^ from unquestionable authority, and is published 
that it may go down to posterity : 

11 N. Carolina, Mecklenburg county, ) 
May ao, 1775. ) 

In the spring of 1775, the leading characters of Mecklenburg 
county . . . held several detached meetings, in each of which 
the individual sentiments were, "that the cause of Boston was 
the cause of all . . ." Conformably to these principles, Col. 

20 



m 



ITS HISTORT 

Adam Alexander, through solicitation, issued an order to each 
Captain's Company in the county of Mecklenburg . . . direct- 
ing each militia company to elect two persons ... to adopt 
measures ... to secure, unimpaired, their inalienable rights, 
privileges and liberties . . . 

... on the 19th of May, 1775, the said delegation met in 
Charlotte, vested with unlimited powers ; at which time official 
news, by express, arrived of the battle of Lexington on that day 
of the preceding month . . . Abraham Alexander was then 
elected Chairman, and John M'Knitt Alexander, Clerk. After 
a free and full discussion of the various objects for which the 
delegation had been convened, it was unanimously Ordained — 

1. Resolved^ That whosoever directly or indirectly abetted, or 
in any way, form, or manner, countenanced, the unchartered and 
dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is 
an enemy to this country, — to America, — and to the inherent 
and inalienable rights of man. 

2. Resolved^ That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do 
hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the 
Mother Country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance 
to the British Crown, and abjure all political connection, con- 
tract, or association with that Nation, who have wantonly tram- 
pled on our rights and liberties — and inhumanly shed the innocent 
blood of American patriots at Lexington. 

3. Resolved^ That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and 
independent people ; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign & 
self governing association, under the control of no power other 
than that of our God and the General Government of the Con- 
gress ; to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly 
pledge to each other our mutual co-operation, our lives, our for- 
tunes, & our most sacred honor. 

4. Resolved^ That as we now acknowledge the existence and 
control of no law or legal officer, civil or military, within this 

21 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

county, we do hereby ordain and adopt, as a rule of life, all, each, 
and every of our former laws — wherein, nevertheless, the crown 
of Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights, privi- 
leges, immunities, or authority therein. 

. . . After sitting in the court house all night, neither sleepy, 
hungry, or fatigued, and after discussing every paragraph, they 
were all passed, sanctioned, and decreed, unanimously, about two 
o'clock, A. M. May 20. In a few days, a deputation of said 
delegation convened, when capt. James Jack, of Charlotte, was 
deputed as express to the Congress at Philadelphia, with a copy 
of said resolves and proceedings, together with a letter addressed 
to our three representatives, viz. Richard Caswell, William 
Hooper, and Joseph Hughes, under express injunction, person- 
ally, and through the state representation, to use all possible 
means to have said proceedings sanctioned and approved by the 
general Congress. On the return of captain Jack, the delegation 
learned that their proceedings were individually approved by the 
members of Congress, but that it was deemed premature to lay 
them before the house. A joint letter from said three members 
of Congress was also received, complimentary of the zeal in 
the common cause, and recommending perseverance, order, and 
energy . . . 

[^^The foregoing is a true copy of the papers on the above 
subject, left in my hands by John Matthew^* Alexander, de- 
ceased. I find it mentioned on file that the original book was 
burned in April, 1800; that a copy ^^ of the proceedings was 
sent to Hugh Williamson, in New- York, then writing a history 
of North Carolina, and that a copy was ^^ sent to general W. R. 
Davies i'^. 

J. M'KNITTis.] 

John Adams, then at Quincy, immediately (June 22d) 
wrote to Jefferson : " [S] May I inclose you one of the 

22 



ITS HISTORT 

greatest curiositys and one of the deepest mysterys that 
ever occurred to me . . . it is entitled the Raleigh Reg- 
ister Declaration of Independence — How is it possi- 
ble that this paper should have been concealed from me 
to this day — had it been communicated to me in the 
time of it - — I know, if you do not know, that it would 
have been printed in every Whig Newspaper upon this 
Continent — you know if I had possessed it — I would 
have made the Hall of Congress Echo — and re-echo, 
with it fifteen mongths before your Declaration of Inde- 
pendence — What a poor ignorant, malicious, short- 
sighted, crapulous mass, is Tom Pains Common Sense ^^; 
in comparison with this paper — had I known it I would 
have commented upon it — from the day you entered 
Congress till the fourth of July 1776. — The genuine 
sense of America at that moment was never so well 
expressed before nor since. — Richard Caswell, William 
Hooper, and Joseph Hughs the then Representatives of 
North Carolina in Congress you know as well as I do — 
and you know that the Unanimity of the States finally 
depended upon the Vote of Joseph Hughes — and was 
finally determined by him — and yet History is to as- 
cribe the American Revolution to Thomas Paine — Sat 
verbum sapient — " 

Another letter from Adams, dated July 15th, to 
William Bentley, says : " [J] A few weeks ago I re- 
ceived an Essex Register, containing resolutions of inde- 
pendence by a county in North Carolina ... I was 
struck with so much astonishment on reading this docu- 
ment, that I could not help inclosing it immediately to 
Mr. Jefferson, who must have seen it, in the time of it, 

23 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

for he has copied the spirit, the sense, and the expressions 
of it verbatim^ into his Declaration . . . Its total con- 
cealment from me is a mystery, which can be unriddled 
only by the timidity of the delegates in Congress from 
North Carolina, by the influence of Quakers and pro- 
prietary gentlemen in Pennsylvania, the remaining art 
and power of toryism throughout the continent at that 
time." 

Jefferson replied, July 9th : " [P] what has attracted 
my pecuUar notice is the paper from Mecklenburg 
county ... I believe it spurious. I deem it to be a 
very unjustifiable quiz ... if this paper be really 
taken ^^ from the Raleigh Register, as quoted, I wonder it 
should have escaped Ritchie ^^, who culls what is good 
from every paper, as the bee from every flower ; and 
the National Intelligencer too, which is edited by a N. 
Carolinian, and that the fire should blaze out all at once 
in Essex [Salem], 1000. miles from where the spark is 
said to have fallen, but if really taken from the Raleigh 
Register, who is the narrator, and is the name subscribed 
real^, or is it as fictitious as the paper itself? it appeals 
too to an original book, which is burnt, to mr Alexander 
who is dead, to a joint letter from Caswell, Hughes and 
Hooper, all dead, to a copy sent to the dead Caswell, and 
another sent to Doctf Williamson whose memory, now 
probably dead, did not recollect, in the history he has 
written of N. Carolina, this Gigantic step of it's county 
of Mecklenburg. Horry too is silent in his history of 
Marion, whose scene of action was the county bordering 
on Mecklenburg Ramsay, Marshal, Jones, Girardin, 
Wirt, Historians of the adjacent states, all silent, when 

24 



ITS HIS TORT 

mr Henry's resolutions ^^ far short of independance, flew 
like lightning thro every paper and kindled both sides of 
the Atlantic, this flaming declaration of the same date, 
of the independance of Mecklenburg county of N. 
Carolina, absolving it from British allegiance, and objur- 
ing all political connection with that nation, altho' sent 
to Congress too, is never heard of. it is not known even 
a twelve month after even a similar proposition is first 
made in that body, armed with this bold example, would 
not you have addressed our timid brethren in peals of 
thunder, on their tardy fears ? would not every advo- 
cate of independance have rung the glories of Mecklen- 
burg county in N. Carolina in the ears of the doubting 
Dickinson and others, who hung so heavily on us ? yet 
the example of independant Mecklenburg county in N. 
Carolina was never once quoted, the paper speaks too 
of the continued exertion of their delegation, (Caswell, 
Hooper, Hughes) " in the cause of liberty and inde- 
pendance." now you remember as well as I do, that we 
had not a greater tory in Congress than Hooper ^^ that 
Hughes was very wavering, sometimes firm, sometimes 
feeble, according as the day was clear or cloudy ; that 
Caswell indeed was a good whig, and kept these gentle- 
men to the notch, while he was present ; but that he left 
us^^ soon, and their line of conduct became then uncer- 
tain till Penn came^^ who fixed Hughes and the vote of 
the state. I must not be understood as suggesting any 
doubtfulness in the state of N. Carolina, no state was 
more fixed or forward, nor do I affirm positively that 
this paper is a fabrication : because the proof of a nega- 
tive can only be presumptive, but I shall believe it such 

25 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

until positive and solemn proof of it's authenticity shall 
be produced, and if the name of M^'Knitt be real, and 
not a part of the fabrication, it needs a vindication by 
the production of such proof, for the present I must be 
an unbeliever in this apocryphal gospel." 

On the 2ist, Adams wrote again: " [S] . . . your 
Letter of the 9*^ . . . has entirely convinced me that the 
Mecklengburg Resolutions are fiction ... as they were 
unknown to you^, they must have been unknown to all 
mankind — I have sent a copy of your letter to Salem, 
not to be printed but to be used as decisive authority for 
the Editor [Warwick Palfray, Jr.] to correct his error, in 
the Essex Register. — But who can be the Demon to 
invent such a machine after five and forty years, and 
what could be his Motive — was it to bring a Charge of 
Plagiarism against the Congress in 706, or against you ; 
the undoubted acknowledged draughtsmen of the Decla- 
ration of Independence — or could it be the mere vanity 
of producing a jeu d'esprit, to set the world a guess and 
afford a topic of Conversation in this piping time of 
Peace — Had such Resolutions appeared in June 705. 
they would have flown through the Universe like wild 
fire ; they would have Elevated the heads of the inhabi- 
tants of Boston; — and of all New-England above the 
Stars — and they would have rung a peal in Congress — 
to the utter Confusion of Tory'is'm and timidity, for a 
full year before they were discomforted — '* 

This letter was followed by a third (to Jefferson) but 
seven days later : " [S] I inclose you a National Register, 
to convince you that the Essex Register is not to blame 
for printing the Mecklingburg County Resolutions, on 

26 



ITS HISTORT 

the Contrary I think it to be commended — for if those 
Resolutions were genuine they ought to be published 
in every Gazette in the World — If they are one of 
those tricks which our fashionable Men in England call 
hoax'es and boares — they ought to be printed in all 
American journals ; exposed to public resentment and 
the Author of them hunted to his dark Cavern — " 

To Bentley, under date of August 21st, he says: 
" [J] I thank you for the Raleigh Register and National 
Intelligencer. The plot thickens ... I was on social, 
friendly terms with Caswell, Hooper, and Hewes, every 
moment of their existence in Congress ; with Hooper, 
a Bostonian, and a son of Harvard, intimate and familiar. 
Yet, from neither of the three did the slightest hint of 
these Mecklenburg resolutions ever escape ... I can- 
not believe that they were known to one member of 
Congress on the fourth of July, 1776 . . . The papers 
of Dr. Hugh Williamson ought to be searched for the 
copy sent to him, and the copy sent to General W. R. 
Davie. The Declaration of Independence made by Con- 
gress ... is a document . . . that ought not to be dis- 
graced or trifled with." 

Discussion was now rife; and, on February 18, 1820, 
the Raleigh Register printed a number of affidavits and 
letters, introduced as follows: " ^^ When the Declara- 
tion was first published in April last, some doubts were 
expressed in the Eastern papers as to its authenticity, 
(none of the Histories of the Revolution having noticed 
the circumstance.) Col. William Polk, of this City, 
(who, though a mere youth at the time, was present at 
the meeting which made the Declaration, and whose 

27 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Father being Colonel of the County, appears to have 
acted a conspicuous part on the occasion,) observing 
this, assured us of the correctness of the facts generally, 
though he thought there were errors as to the name of 
the Secretary, &c. and said that he should probably be 
able to correct these, and throw some further light on 
the subject, by Enquiries amongst some of his old 
friends in Mecklenburg county. He has accordingly 
made Enquiries, and communicated to us . . . Docu- 
ments ^^ as the result, which, we presume, will do away 
[with] all doubts on the subject." 

The matter was still further investigated, in 1831, 
under the direction of the General Assembly of the 
State and a report^'' made. 

These (the Raleigh Register of 1820 and the report 
of the General Assembly, embracing other affidavits) 
established, it would seem, many of the facts at issue — 
certainly that, some time in May, 1775, certain resolu- 
tions of an advanced character were adopted in Mecklen- 
burg County ; that resolutions of an advanced character 
were publicly read by Thomas Polk and received with 
great joy ; and that, in June, James Jack set out with 
a copy of resolutions of an advanced character for Con- 
gress, that he stopped at Salisbury, where, at the request 
of the General Court, an attorney by the name of Kennon 
read the resolutions, and that Jack delivered a copy of the 
resolutions to Caswell and Hooper in Philadelphia. 

Many claim that these established also that the reso- 
lutions in question expressly declared independence and that 
the date of their adoption was May 20th, 

With this^ however, we cannot agree. Not only is 

28 



ITS HISTORY 

the wording itself of almost all of the affidavits very- 
uncertain, but it is very apparent that none of the affi- 
ants was considering — and we might in any event ques- 
tion the power of any of them to recall — the exact 
wording of the resolutions adopted or the exact day in 
May on which adopted. 

Under these circumstances. The South-Carolina Gazette ; 
and Country Journal ^^ of June 13, 1775, which has since 
come to light^'^^ is, we think, of the first importance. It 
contains : 

83 Charlotte-Town, Mecklenburg Coijnty, May 31^4, 177S 

This day the Committee of this county met, and passed the following 
Resolves : 

WHEREAS by an Address presented to his Majesty by both 
Houses of Parliament, in February last, the American colonies 
are declared to be in a state of actual rebellion, we conceive, 
that all laws and commissions confirmed by, or derived from 
the authority of the King or Parliament, are annulled and va- 
cated, and the former civil constitution of these colonies, for the 
present, wholly suspended. To provide, in some degree, for the 
exigencies of this county, in the present alarming period, we deem 
it proper and necessary to pass the following Resolves ^^, viz : 

I. That all commissions, civil and military, heretofore granted 
by the Crown, to be exercised in these colonies, are null and void, 
and the constitution of each particular colony wholly suspended. 

n. That the Provincial Congress of each province, under the 
direction of the great Continental Congress, is invested with all 
legislative and executive powers within their respective prov- 
inces ; and that no other legislative or executive power, does, or 
can exist, at this time, in any of these colonies. 

in. As all former laws are now suspended in this province, 
and the Congress have not yet provided others, we judge it 

29 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

necessary, for the preservation of good order, to form certain 
rules and regulations for the internal government of this county, 
until laws shall be provided for us by the Congress. 

IV. That the inhabitants of this county do meet . . . and 
having formed themselves into nine companies ... do chuse 
a Colonel and other military officers, who shall hold and exer- 
cise their several powers by virtue of this choice, and independ- 
ent of the Crown of Great-Britain, and former constitution of 
this province. 

V. That for the better preservation of the peace and admin- 
istration of justice, each of those companies do chuse from their 
own body, two discreet freeholders, who shall be empowered . . . 
to decide and determine all matters of controversy . . . 

VI . . .36 

XIV. That all these officers hold their commissions during 
the pleasure of their several constituents. 
XV . . . 

XVI. That whatever person shall hereafter receive a com- 
mission from the Crown, or attempt to exercise any such com- 
mission heretofore received, shall be deemed an enemy to his 
country . . . 

XVII. That any person refusing to yield obedience to the 
above Resolves, shall be considered equally criminal . . . 

XVIII. That these Resolves be in full force and virtue, until 
instructions from the Provincial Congress, regulating the juris- 
prudence of the province, shall provide otherwise, or the legis- 
lative body of Great-Britain, resign its unjust and arbitrary 
pretentions with respect to America. 

XIX ... 

XX. That the Committee appoint Colonel Thomas Polk, and 
Doctor Joseph Kenedy, to purchase 300 lb. of powder . . . 
Signed by order of the Committee^ 

EPH BREVARD 37, Clerk of the Committee. 
30 



ITS HISTORT 

This certainly should be considered, we think, adequate 
proof that the "Committee of this county" of Mecklen- 
burg passed the resolves^ there given on May j/, 
1775 ; and the only question, therefore, we think, is. 
Were the resolves accredited (in 1819) to the "delega- 
tion " composed of " two persons " from " each militia 
company " " in the county of Mecklenburg " and to the 
20th of the same month also passed ? 

We cannot but say that this seems to us very un- 
likely.^^ We can see no reasons why the resolves 
attributed to the 20th, if in fact passed, should not have 
been the ones published in The South-Carolina Gazette y 
etc., rather than those of the 31st — especially as some 
resolves are admitted to have been read publicly in 
" Charlotte-Town " and in the General Court and sent 
to the Delegates in Congress and as it would be but 
natural to make public in the press the more pronounced, 
admitting that there were two sets of resolves. Indeed, 
if we can credit at all the resolves given in The South- 
Carolina Gazette^ etc., the military companies would seem 
not to have been organized in Mecklenburg County 
until after the 31st and in accordance with these resolves. 

Certain it is that Hewes, who is stated " individually " 
to have " approved " of the " proceedings " a copy of 
which was carried to Philadelphia by James Jack, writes, 
from Philadelphia, December ist, to Samuel Johns- 
ton (?) : "[N] no plan of Seperation has been offered, 
the Colonies will never Agree to Any 'till drove to it 
by dire Necessity. I wish the time may not come too 
soon, I fear it will be the case if the British Ministry 
pursue their present diabolical Schemes, I am weary of 

31 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

politicks and wish I could retire to my former private 
Station (to speak in the language of J. Child) a pence 
& farthings Man . . . P. S. The bearer W? Chew who 
is sent express is to receive from you Sixty Dollars 
which you must charge to North Carolina, if he does 
not find you at Edenton he is to have Six pence W Mile 
and Ail ferryages paid, for any distance — that he may 
go out of his way to find you after he gets to Eden- 
ton [.] " 

Of importance, too, are the facts that it also has come 
to light since^^ the report of the General Assembly that 
there was attached to the " Davie copy *' a certificate from 
John M'Knitte Alexander and that this stated :"*^It 
may be worthy of notice here to observe that the fore- 
going statement though fundamentally correct, yet may 
not literally correspond with the original records of the 
transactions of said delegation and court of enquiry, as 
all those records and papers were burnt, with the house, 
on April 6th, 1800; but previous to that time of 1800, 
a full copy of said records, at the request of Doctor 
Hugh Williamson, then of New York, but formerly a 
representative in Congress from this State, was forwarded 
to him by Col. Wm. Polk in order that those early 
transactions might fill their proper place in a history of 
this State then writing by said Doctor Williams in New 
York. Certified to the best of my recollection and 
belief this 3d day of September, 1800, by J. McN. 
Alexander Mecklenburg County^ N. C." 

On the other hand, it is zealously claimed that the re- 
solves of the 20th were passed by a more or less popular 
assemblage (of which Alexander was clerk) and those of 

32 



ITS HISTORT 

the 31st by the regular Committee of the County*^; or 
that those of the 31st were a revised set*^ 

The passage in May^ ///J, of even such resolutions 
as are given in The South-Carolina Gazette, etc., however, 
are greatly to the credit of Mecklenburg County; but 
they do not take from the fame of Jefferson. 

It was not until Lexington and Concord — followed 
shortly by the death of Warren at Bunker Hill — that 
a declaration of independence became even 2i possibility, 

Jefferson** writes, May 7th, to Dr. William Small: 
" This accident has cut off our last hope of reconcili- 
ation, and a phrenzy of revenge seems to have seized 
all ranks of people . . . This may perhaps be' intended 
to intimidate into acquiescence ; but the effect has been 
most unfortunately otherwise."*^ 

Samuel Adams, according to his biographer, came to 
the second Continental Congress (May loth) "[W] im- 
pressed with the necessity of an immediate declaration of 
independence." (Indeed, there is a note among the 
Bancroft papers in the New York Public Library, 
Lenox, which says : " Sam' Adams said to Rush : For 
seven years before the commencement of the war [i. e. 
from iy68'] independence has been the first wish of my 
heart.") 

Franklin*^, May i6th, sends a letter to London in 
which he says : " [X] The breach between the two 
countries is grown wider, and in danger of becoming irrep- 
arable " ; and, on December 9th, he writes, to Charles 
W. F. Dumas : " [X] ... we wish to know whether 
. . . if, as it seems likely to happen, we should be 
3 33 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

obliged to break off all connection with Britain, and de- 
clare ourselves an independent people, there is any state 
or power in Europe who would be willing to enter into an 
alliance with us for the benefit of our commerce . . ." 

Dr. Benjamin Church writes, July 23d: "The people 
of Connecticut are raving in the cause of liberty . . . The 
Jerseys are not a whit behind Connecticut in zeal. The 
Philadelphians exceed them both ... I mingled freely 
and frequently with the members of the Continental Con- 
gress ; they were united and determined in opposition . . . 
A view to independence appears to be more and more 
general." 

John Adams writes, to James Warren, July 24th : 
" [J] W^ ought to have had in our hands, a month ago, 
the whole legislative, executive, and judicial of the whole 
continent, and have completely modelled a constitution ; 
to have raised a naval power, and opened all our ports 
wide ; to have arrested every friend of government on 
the continent and held them as hostages for the poor 
victims in Boston, and then opened the door as wide as 
possible for peace and reconciliation. After this, they 
might have petitioned, negotiated, addressed, &c. if they 
would.'' 

This, with a letter to his wife, fell into the hands of 
the enemy and was sent to England and published. 
Adams, in his Autobiography ^^, says : " [J] They [the 
British] thought them a great prize. The ideas of inde- 
pendence, to be sure, were glaring enough, and they 
thought they should produce quarrels among the mem- 
bers of Congress and a division of the Colonies. Me 
they expected ^^ utterly to ruin, because, as they repre- 

34 



ITS HISTORT 

sented, I had explicitly avowed my designs of independ- 
ence. I cared nothing for this. I had made no secret, 
in or out of Congress, of my opinion that independence 
was become indispensable, and I was perfectly sure that 
in a little time the whole continent would be of my 
mind. I rather rejoiced in this as a fortunate circum- 
stance, that the idea was held up to the whole world, and 
that the people could not avoid contemplating it and 
reasoning about it. Accordingly, from this time at least, 
if not earlier, and not from the publication of ' Common 
Sense,' did the people in all parts of the continent turn 
their attention to this subject . . . Colonel Reed . . . 
said that Providence seemed to have thrown those letters 
before the public for our good . . ." 

A member of Congress writes, to London, August 
26th : " All trade to England, and every other part of 
the world, will most certainly be stopped on the tenth of 
next month . . . Whether that will be one means of dis- 
solving our connections entirely with Great Britain, I 
shall leave to wiser heads to determine. I am far, very 
far, from wishing such an event, but, nevertheless, I am 
very apprehensive, from the present temper of our peo- 
ple, that a few more violent steps will lay a foundation 
for it." 

General Greene writes, to Washington from Prospect 
Hill, October 23d : " I hinted, in my last, that people be- 
gin heartily to wish a declaration of independence . . .'* 
On December 20th, he says : " George the Third's last 
speech has shut the door of hope for reconciliation . . . 
We are now driven to the necessity of making a declara- 
tion of independence." 

35 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Bovvdoin writes, to Samuel Adams, December 9th : 
<c49Q^j. salvation under God depends upon a spirited 
exertion upon our part, & therefore all delicacy in our 
hostilities ought to be laid aside . . . We have already 
shewn too much of it, which instead of attributing it to 
the true cause — a desire on our part of a reconciliation 
& the keeping open a door for it — they have looked 
on as proceeding wholly from pusillanimity, which they 
expected would end, if rigorous measures were taken with 
us, in an abject submission . . . The Independence of 
America will probably grow out of the present dispute. 
A willing dependence on Great Britain cannot easily be 
apprehended, as her injuries have been so many & grevi- 
ous, & all confidence in her justice is lost : — to such 
a degree lost, that we should not know how to trust 
her, even if she were sincerely to offer equitable terms 
of accommodation ... I beg you would present my 
best regards to D. Franklin, Mr. Lynch, Col? Harrison, 
& the Mass! Delegates . . " 

The second Continental Congress also met (May loth) 
in Philadelphia — but at the State House, not at Carpen- 
ters' Hall. FrankHn^ had left England on March 21st, 
had arrived in Philadelphia on May 5th and had been 
unanimously chosen a Delegate by Pennsylvania on the 
6th. The other new Delegates who appeared in Congress 
on the loth were John Hancock ^^^^ of Massachusetts, 
John Langdon^^ of New Hampshire, Thomas Willing ^^ 
of Pennsylvania and John Hall^ of Maryland. Still 
others attended later: Lyman Hall^^ from the Parish 
of St. John's in Georgia and Thomas Stone ^^^ of Mary- 

36 



ITS HIS TORT 

land on the 13th ; Philip Schuyler ^^ George Clinton ^^^, 
Lewis Morris ^^ (who arrived in Philadelphia on the loth) 
and Robert R. Livingston ^^ of New York and James 
Wilson ^^^^ of Pennsylvania on the 15th; Jefferson ^^^^ 
of Virginia on June 21st; and Archibald Bullock ^^, 
John Houston ^^ and Rev. J. J. Zubly ^^ of Georgia on 
September 13th. New York had elected for the first 
time also Francis Lewis ^^"^^^ On the last day (Septem- 
ber 13th) appeared as well George Wythe '^^^^ Thomas 
Nelson, Jr., ^^^ ^^d Francis Lightfoot Lee''^' of Vir- 
ginia — who had been elected for the first time follow- 
ing the adjournment^^ of Congress. Following this 
adjournment, New Hampshire also elected one new 
Delegate — Josiah Bartlett ^^ ^ ; North Carolina also one 
new Delegate — John Penn^^^; Connecticut also two 
new Delegates — Samuel Huntington ^^^^^^ and Oliver 
Wolcott^*^^^^^ (together with one new alternate — Wil- 
liam Williams ^^^'^^^) ; Pennsylvania two new Delegates 
— Robert Morris ^^^^ and Andrew Allen ^^ ; Maryland 
two new Delegates — Robert Alexander "^^ and John 
Rogers ^^ ; and Virginia one new Delegate — Carter 
Braxton ^^. 

Randolph was for the second time elected Presi- 
dent. 

He served, however, for a few days only. On the 
24th of May, as shown by the Journal, " The Congress 
met according to adjournment, but the hon^!® Peyton 
Randolph Pres* being under a necessity of returning 
home & having set out this morning early the chair was 
vacant wherefore on motion, the Hon^f® John Hancock ^^ 
was unanimously chosen President." 

37 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

This Congress, during the year, like the Congress of 
1774, took no action whatever upon the question of 
independence. 

John Adams writes to his wife, June nth : "[Ad] I 
have found this Congress like the last. When we first 
came together, I found a strong jealousy of us from New 
England, and the Massachusetts in particular; suspicions 
entertained of designs of independency ; an American 
Republic ; Presbyterian principles, and twenty other 
things. Our sentiments were heard in Congress with 
great caution, and seemed to make but little impression ; 
but the longer we sat, the more clearly they saw the 
necessity of pjushing vigorous measures. It has been so 
now . . ./Kit America is, a great unwieldy body. Its 
progress must be slow^x . . Like a coach and six, the 
swiftest horses must be slackened, and the slowest quick- 
ened, that all may keep an even pace." 

Franklin, in a letter of October 3d, says : " [X] We 
have as yet resolved only on defensive measures.'* 

The spirit "^^ which prevailed in the body is well shown 
by an incident described by Jefferson in his Autobiog- 
raphy : " [S] rnr Dickinson . . . still retained the object 
of reconciliation . . . he was so honest a man, and so 
able a one that he was greatly indulged even by those 
who could not feel his scruples . . . Congress gave a 
signal proof of their indulgence to rnr Dickinson, and of 
their great desire not to go too fast for any respectable 
part of our body, in permitting him to draw their second 
petition to the king according to his own ideas, and pass- 
ing it with scarcely any amendment, the disgust against 
it's humility was general ; and nir Dickinson's delight at 

3S 



ITS HISTORT 

It's passage was the only circumstance which reconciled 
them. to it. the vote being past, altho' further observh 
on it was out of order, he could not refrain from rising 
and expressing his satisfaction and concluded by saying 
" there is but one word, nir President, in the paper which 
I disapprove, & that is the word Congress'' on which Ben 
Harrison rose and said " there is but one word in the 
paper, nir President, of which I approve, and that is the 
word Congress [.] " " 

Indeed, looking backward, many of the words of this 
Congress seem like anomalies ! Especially is this true of 
the declaration — the most important measure of the year 
- — setting forth the causes of taking up arms. Though, 
in effect, a declaration of war, it said: " Lest this declara- 
tion should disquiet the minds of our friends and fellovv^- 
subjects in any part of the Empire, we assure them that 
we mean not to dissolve that union which has so long and 
so happily subsisted between us, and which we sincerely 
wish to see restored." 



39 



Ill 

SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX 

JANUARY 3, 1776, gave being to the new army 
at Cambridge. Washington — whose Hfe Robert 
Morris, six months later, declared " [U] the most 
valuable in America'* — hoisted the Union flag, in com- 
pliment to the united Colonies. On the 30th, he writes 
thence to the President of Congress : " [Y] The clouds 
thicken fast ; where they will burst, I know not ; but we 
should be armed at all points." 

This was always Washington's appeal. 

At no time, so far as we know, did he waste his 
powers, or invite the refusal of his constant and necessary 
demands upon Congress, by urging upon it or any of 
its members a declaration of independence. 

To Joseph Reed, however, Washington, in 1776, 
openly expressed his opinions. On January 31st, he 
writes : " [Y] A few more of such flaming arguments, as 
were exhibited at Falmouth and Norfolk, added to the 
sound doctrine and unanswerable reasoning contained in 
the pamphlet ^ Common Sense,' ^ will not leave numbers 
at a loss to decide upon the propriety of a separation " ; 
on February loth, though his situation, as described by 
himself, had " [Y] been such, that I have been obliged 
to use art to conceal it from my own officers " : " With 
respect to myself, I have never entertained an idea. of an 

40 



ITS HISTORT 

accommodation, since I heard of the measures, which 
were adopted in consequence of the Bunker's Hill fight. 
The King's speech has confirmed the sentiments I enter- 
tained upon the news of that affair ; and, if every man 
was of my mind, the ministers of Great Britain should 
know . . . that, if nothing else could satisfy a tyrant and 
his diabolical ministry, we are determined to shake off all 
connexions with a state so unjust and unnatural. This I 
would tell them, not under covert, but in words as clear 
as the sun in its meridian brightness " ; and, on April 
I5th^: " [Y] I am exceedingly concearned to hear^ of 
the divisions and parties, which prevail with you, and in 
the southern colonies, on the score of independence. 
These are the shelves we have to avoid or our bark will 
split and tumble to pieces . . . Nothing but disunion 
can hurt our cause." 

Indeed, William Palfray (evidently) writes from New 
York to Samuel Adams, May 24th : " [SA] As it may 
be of some importance to you to know General W's 
Sentiments respecting the grand point of American inde- 
pendence I think my duty to acquaint you that I have 
heard him converse several times lately on the Subject, 
and delivered it as his opinion that a reconciliation with 
Great Britain is impracticable impoHtic, and would be in 
the highest degree detrimental to the true Interests of 
America — That when he first took the Command of the 
Army he abhorr'd the Idea of independence but is now 
fully convinced nothing else will save us — " 



Two days before the birth of the new army, we find 
the Assembly of New Hampshire " establishing a form 

41 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

of Government, to continue during the present unhappy 
and unnatural contest with Great Britain ; protesting and 
declaring, that we never sought to throw off our depend- 
ence upon Great Britain . . . and that we shall rejoice 
if such a reconciliation . . . can be effected, as shall be 
approved by the Continental Congress, in whose prudence 
and wisdom we confide." * 

Massachusetts, on the contrary, on the i8th of the 
same month (January), fully empowered her Delegates 
(Hancock, the Adamses, Paine and Elbridge Gerry), 
" with the Delegates from the other American Colonies, 
to concert, direct, and order such further measures as 
shall to them appear best calculated for the recovery and 
establishment of American rights and liberties " — words 
which might be implied to include the power to join in a 
declaration of independence, though they evidently were 
not so intended and, as we shall see, were not so 
construed. 

John Adams, who had left Congress, on leave of 
absence, December 9, 1775, and Gerry, who was elected^ 
for the first time on the i8th (of January, 1776), pro- 
ceeded^ together to Philadelphia and took their seats 
on February 9th. 

Adams, in his Autobiography^ tells us : " [J] Mr. 
Samuel Adams, Mr. Gerry and myself now composed a 
majority of the Massachusetts delegation, and we were 
no longer vexed or enfeebled by divisions among our- 
selves, or by indecision or indolence." 

At another place in his Autobiography y — indistinctly 
intermingling his views following his return with those 

42 



ITS HISTORT 

of the preceding Fall, from his return after the adjourn- 
ment on August 1st to his departure on the leave 
of absence — he says : " [J] At the appointed time 
[Wednesday, September 5, 1775], ^^ returned to Phila- 
delphia, and Congress were reassembled . . . almost 
every day I had something to say about advising the 
States to institute governments, to express my total de- 
spair of any good from . . . any of those things which 
were called conciliatory measures. I constantly in- 
sisted . . . that we should be driven to the necessity of 
declaring ourselves independent States, and that we 
ought now to be employed in preparing a plan of con- 
federation for the Colonies and treaties . . . together 
with a declaration of independence; that these three 
measures, independence, confederation, and negotiations 
with foreign powers, particularly France, ought to go 
hand in hand ^ and be adopted all together ; that foreign 
powers could not be expected to acknowledge us till we 
had acknowledged ourselves, and taken our station among 
them as a sovereign power and independent nation . . . 
Some gentlemen doubted of the sentiments of France ; 
thought she would frown upon us as rebels, and be afraid 
to countenance the example. I replied to those gentle- 
men, that I apprehended they had not attended to the 
relative situation of France and England ; that it was the 
unquestionable interest of France that the . . . Colonies 
should be independent . . . When I first made these 
observations in Congress, 1 never saw a greater impres- 
sion made upon that assembly or any other. Attention 
and approbation were marked upon every countenance. 
Several gentlemen came to me afterwards, to thank me 

43 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

for that speech, particularly Mr. Cassar Rodney, of 
Delaware, and Mr. Duane, of New York. I remember 
these two gentlemen in particular, because both of them 
said that I had considered the subject of foreign connec- 
tions more maturely than any man they had ever heard in 
America . . . These and such as these, were my con- 
stant and daily topics, sometimes of reasoning and no 
doubt often of declamation, from the meeting of Congress 
in the autumn of 1775, through the whole winter and 
spring of 1776.^ Many motions were made, and after 
tedious discussions, lost. I received little assistance from 
my colleagues in all these contests; three ^ of them were 
either inchned to lean towards Mr. Dickinson's system, 
or at least chose to be silent, and the fourth [Samuel 
Adams evidently] spoke but rarely in Congress, and 
never entered into any extensive arguments, though, 
when he did speak, his sentiments were clear and perti- 
nent and neatly expressed. Mr. Richard Henry Lee, 
of Virginia, Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, and Mr. 
Gadsden ^'^, of South Carolina, were always on my side, 
and Mr. Chase", of Maryland, when he did speak at 
all, was always powerful, and generally with us. Mr. 
Johnson ^^, of Maryland, was the most frequent speaker 
from that State, and, while he remained with us, was 
inclined to Mr. Dickinson for some time, but ere long 
he and all his State came cordially into our system." 

Gerry writes, to James Warren, March 26th : " [O] 
You are desirous of knowing what capital measures are 
proposed in congress. I refer you to . * . what is done 
concerning privateering . . . This will not in itself satisfy 
you, and / hope nothing will^ short of a determination of 

44 



ITS HISTORY 

America to hold her rank in the creation^ and give law to 
herself, I doubt not this will soon take place ... I sin- 
cerely wish you would originate instructions ^^ expressed 
with decency and firmness — your own style — and give 
your sentiments as a court in favour of independency. I 
am certain it would turn many doubtful minds, and pro- 
duce a reversal of the contrary instructions adopted by 
some assemblies. Some timid minds are terrified at the 
word independence. If you think caution in this respect 
good policy, change the name. America has gone such 
lengths she cannot recede, and I am convinced a few 
weeks or months at furthest will convince her of the fact, 
but the fruit must have time to ripen in some of the 
other colonies . . ."^^ 

Samuel Adams (who, not long before, had been " [SA] 
indisposd " in Baltimore, " so as to be obligd to keep 
my Chamber ten days, I was unable to travel with my 
Friends " ; and to whom, on February 1 2th, his wife 
had written : " [SA] I Received your affectinate Letter 
by Fesenton and thank you for your Kind Concern for 
My health and Safty. I beg you Would not give your 
self any pain on our being so Near the Camp, the 
place I am in is so situated that if the Regulars should 
Even take prospect hill ... I should be able to Make 
an Escape — as I am Within a few stons Cast of a 
Back Road Which Leads to the Most Retired part of 
Newtown . . . P S I beg you to Excuse the very 
poor Writing as My paper is Bad and my pen made 
with scissars — I should be glad ... if you should 
not come down soon you would Write me Word 
Who to apply to for some Monney for I am low in 

45 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Cash and Every thing is very dear") writes, April 3d, 
to Dr. Samuel Cooper^^: "[SA] Is not America already 
independent ? Why then not declare it ? . . . Can Na- 
tions at War be said to be dependent either upon the 
other? I ask then again, why not declare for Independ- 
ence ? Because say some, it will forever shut the Door 
of Reconciliation ... By such a Reconciliation she 
would not only in the most shameful Manner acknowl- 
edge the Tyranny, but most wickedly, as far as would 
be in her Power, prevent her Posterity from ever here- 
after resisting it." 

His words of the 15th to Joseph Hawley are equally 
forcible: "[Sil] I am perfectly satisfied with the Reasons 
you offer to show the Necessity of a publick & explicit 
Declaration of Independency. — I cannot conceive what 
good Reason can be assignd against it. Will it widen 
the Breach ? This would be a strange Question after 
we have raised Armies and fought Battles with the 
British Troops, set up an American Navy ... It can- 
not surely after all this be imagind that we consider our- 
selves or mean to be considerd by others in any State but 
that of Independence But moderate Whigs are dis- 
gusted with our mentioning the Word ! Sensible Tories 
are better Politicians. — They know, that no foreign Power 
can consistently yield Comfort to Rebels, or enter 
into any kind of Treaty with these Colonies till they 
declare themselves free and independent . . . moderate 
Gentlemen are flattering themselves with the prospect of 
Reconciliation . . ." 

The letter to Hawley was followed by one the next 
day to Warren : " [W] The only alternative is inde- 

46 



ITS HISTORT 

pendence or slavery . . . One of our moderate, prudent 
Whigs would be startled at what I now write . . . they 
would continue the conflict a century. There are such 
moderate men here, but their principles are daily growing 
out of fashion. The child Independence is now strug- 
gling for birth. I trust that in a short time it will be 
brought forth, and in spite of Pharaoh, all America will 
hail the dignified stranger." 

On the last day of April, he writes — again to Cooper: " 
" [SA] I am to acknowledge the Receipt of your Favor 
of the 1 8^^ Instant by the Post — The Ideas of Independ- 
ence spread far and wide among the Colonies — Many 
of the leading Men see the absurdity of supposing that 
Allegiance is due to a Sovereign who has already thrown 
us out of his Protection — South Carolina has lately as- 
sumd a new Government — The Convention of North 
Carolina have unanimously agreed to do the same . . . 
Virginia whose Convention is to meet on the third of 
next month will follow the lead — The Body of the 
People of Maryland are firm — Some of the principal 
Members of their Convention, I am inclind to believe, 
are timid and lukewarm . . . The lower Counties in 
Delaware are a small People but well affected to the 
Common Cause — In this populous and wealthy Colony 
[Pennsylvania] political Parties run high — The News 
papers are full of the Matter but I think I may assure 
you that Common Sense, prevails among the people . . . 
The Jerseys are agitating the great Question — It is with 
them rather a Matter of Prudence whether to determine 
till some others have done it before them . . . their Sen- 
timents & Manners are I believe similar to those of N 

47 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

England — I forbear to say anything of New York, for I 
confess I am not able to form any opinion of them . . . 
I think they are at least as unenlightned in the Nature 
and Importance of our political Disputes as any one of 
the united Colonies — I have not mentiond our little 
Sister Georgia ; but I believe she is as warmly engagd in 
the Cause as any of us, & will do as much as can be rea- 
sonably expected of her I was very sollicitous the 

last Fall to have Governments set up by the people in 
every Colony . . . When this is done, and I am in- 
clind to think it will be soon, the Colonies will feel their 
Independence ... I am disappointed, but I bear it tol- 
lerably well . . . There has been much to do to confirm 
doubting Friends & fortify the Timid . . . The Boston 
Port bill suddenly wrought a Union of the Colonies 
which could not be brot about by the Industry of years 
in reasoning on the Necessity of it for the Common 
Safety . . . The burning of Norfolk & the Hostilities 
committed in North Carolina have kindled the Resent- 
ment of our Southern Brethren who once thought their 
Eastern Friends hot headed & rash . . . There is a 
Reason that w*^ induce one even to wish for the speedy 
Arrival of the British Troops that are expected at the South- 
ward — I think our friends are well prepared for them & 
one Battle would do more towards a Declaration of Inde- 
pendency than a long chain of conclusive Arguments in 
a provincial Convention or the Continental Congress — " 
The sentiments meanwhile of some of the constituents 
themselves, in the Commonwealth, and the result (evi- 
dently) of Gerry's letter of March 26th to Warren also 
have come down to us : 

48 



ITS HISTORT 

On the 1 8th and 20th of February, Hawley thus de- 
clares to Gerry ^^ : "I have read the pamphlet, entitled, 
'Common Sense, addressed to the Inhabitants of Amer- 
ica,' and every sentiment has sunk into my well-prepared 
heart ...""... if we resolve on independence, what 
will hinder but that we may instantly commence a trade 
not only with Holland, France, and Spain, but with all 
the world ? . . . Pray consider this matter with regard to 
Canada and the Dutch of New- York. Will they ever 
join with us heartily, who, in order to do it, must sacrifice 
their trade . . . Whereas, the moment that we resolve 
on independence, trade will be free for them — for the 
one to France and the other to Holland . . . Independ- 
ence, in short, is the only way to union and harmony, 
to vigour and despatch in business ; our eye will be 
single, and our whole body full of light ; anything short 
of it will, as appears to me, be our destruction, infallible 
destruction, and that speedily." 

On March 26th, Edmund Quincy writes to his 
daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Hancock: "^^May we deserve 
a Continuance of the Protection of Heaven & may there 
be soon an Accomodation or Seperation of y^ Younger 
from y^ Older States ; the Last I expect will be the neces- 
sary Effect of y"" unnatural Treatment we have received 
— The voice of the people in these N° Colonies seems 
almost universally in favor of independency as far as I 
can perceive ... It is my real Opinion y' set time is 
come wherein Providence has appointed the Flourishing 
States to withdraw themselves from y*" Controul of all 
other . . r 

On the 1st of the next month, Hawley, at Watertown, 
4 49 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

urges Samuel Adams as he had previously urged Gerry : 
" [SA] Give me leave to tell you that an irnediate explicit 
and y^ firmest Confederation and Proclamation of Inde- 
pendance may be more necessary than you are aware — 
unless it Shall be done and declared very soon — Infinite 
jealousies will arise in the breasts of the People and 
when they begin to spring up they will increase amaz- 
ingly . . . All will be in confusion if independance is 
not declared immediately [.] " 

On the 28th of April, John Adams writes to his wife: 
"You tell me our jurors refuse to serve, because the 
writs are issued in the King's name " ; and, on the 29th, 
a letter from Boston says : " Common Sense, like a ray 
of revelation, has come in seasonably to clear our doubts, 
and to fix our choice/* 

Another letter of the same month ^^, to John Adams, 
from J. Winthrop, at Watertown, says : " [Qy] I hope 
Common Sense is in as high estimation at the Southward 
as with us. Tis universally admired here. If the Con- 
gress should adopt the Sentiments of it, it would give the 
greatest satisfaction to our people." 

On May ist, Hawley writes to Gerry: "The Tories 
dread a declaration of Independence, and a course of 
conduct on that plan, more than death. They console 
themselves with a belief that the Southern Colonies will 
not accede to it. My hand and heart are full of it. 
There will be no abiding union without it." 

On the 13th, Cooper replies, from Boston, to the 
second letter of Samuel Adams to him : " [SA] I am 
much oblig'd to you for your Favor 30^^ Apr. which I 
received by the Post the Evening before last, and am 

50 



ITS HISTORY 

glad to find Affairs are in so good a Train in the South- 
ern Colonies ; In N. England the Voice is almost uni- 
versal for Independance . . . Our General Court is 
dissolved [?] — Before this took place, the House pass'd a 
Vote to consult their Constituents, whether they would 
instruct their future Representatives to move the Conti- 
nental Congress for Independance — I can only assure 
you of the Substance of the Vote ; the Form of it was 
not clearly related to me. The House sent up this Vote 
to the Council for their Concurrence — The Propriety of 
this was doubted by some, who did not think the Coun- 
cil could properly act on such an affair. It was however 
done, and the Council negatived the Vote. Mr Cushing 
among others was against it. He said that it would em- 
barrass the Congress — that we ought to wait till they 
mov'd the Question to us — that it would prejudice the 
other Colonies against us — and that you had wrote to 
some Body here, that things with you were going on 
slowly and surely, and any Kind of Eagerness in us upon 
this Question would do Hurt. Others said that the 
Congress might not choose to move such a Point to their 
Constituents tho they might be very glad to know their 
minds upon it — that it was beginning at the right End 
for the Constituents to instruct their Delegates at Con- 
gress, & not wait for their asking Instructions from their 
Constituents — that the Question had been long thought 
of & agitated thro the Colonies, & it was now high Time 
to come to some Determination upon it; otherwise our 
artful Enemies might sew the Seeds of Dissention among 
us to the great Prejudice if not Ruin of the common 
Cause. The House, tho they would have been glad of 

SI 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

the Concurrence of the Council in this Matter, have de- 
termined to proceed without them ; and Instructions will 
go from all Parts on this Head ; and it seems, by Ap- 
pearances thro the Continent, you will not be able to 
defer a great While your Decision on this grand Ques- 
tion.— " 

On the 17th, Hawley, at Northampton, writes another 
urgent letter to Samuel Adams. 

On the 20th, B. Hichborn writes to John Adams ^^, 
from Boston : " [Qy] The principal political topic of 
Conversation is Independance — & I think the people 
almost una voce, are wishing for its immediate Declara- 
tion — we are often checked by real or fictitious accounts 
from the Southward, of a contrary disposition in a large 
Majority of the People there — Some opinions say the 
Continental Congress will, others that they will not make 
such a Declaration, without consulting their Constitu- 
ents — can't we be relieved from this uncertainty ?" 

On the 2 2d, Hawley, at Springfield, writes to Samuel 
Adams : " [SA] Before this You have rec^ the Ace! of 
the routing of the continental forces before Quebec — 
Will your Congress now delay for a Moment the most 
explicit declaration of independance [?] '* 

On June ist, Winthrop — speaking of what is con- 
sidered later — writes again to John Adams: "[Qy] I 
have often wondered, that so much difficulty should be 
raised about declaring independence, when we have actu- 
ally got the thing itself ... I now perceive you were iij 
these sentiments long ago. But they are very opposite 
to the inveterate prejudices and long-established systems 
of many others. It must be a work of time to eradicate 

52 



ITS HIS TORT 

these prejudices. And perhaps it may be best to accom- 
plish this great affair by slow and almost imperceptible 
steps, and not per saltum^ by one violent exertion. The 
late Resolve of May 15. comes very near it.'* 

On the next day, Hawley, at Watertown, writes to 
Gerry : " [SA] I do not mean that Confederations and 
a Declaration of Independance Should be made without a 
good prospect of its taking in all the Colonies — We are 
ripe for it here — But as nothing Short of it can Save us, 
if a Clear Vote can be Obtain'^ for it in Congress, will it 
not do to risk it ? I imagine that it will take everywhere." 

Indeed, on June 13th (Thursday), Hawley writes, to 
Gerry: "You cannot declare Independence too soon . . . 
When the present House here called last week, for the 
instructions of the several towns touching Independency, 
agreeable to the recommendation of the last House ^° . . . 
it appeared that about two-thirds of the towns in the 
Colony had met, and all Instructed in the affirmative^^, 
and generally returned to be unanimous. As to the 
other towns ^^, the accounts of their Members were, 
either that they were about to meet, or that they had 
not received the notice, as it was given only in the news- 
papers. Whereupon, the House immediately ordered 
the unnotified towns to be notified by handbills, and in 
a short time undoubtedly we shall have returns from 
all ; and it is almost certain that the returns will be 
universally to support the Congress, with their lives and 
fortunes, in case of a declaration of Independence." 

Before (January 4th) any of these letters was written 
and even before Common Sense appeared, General Greene, 

53 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

then at " Camp on Prospect-Hill ", wrote to Ward : 
" Permit me, then, to recommend from the sincerity of 
my heart, ready at all times to bleed in my country's 
cause, a declaration of independence ; and call upon the 
world, and the great God who governs it, to witness the 
necessity, propriety, and rectitude thereof." 

What Ward replied, if anything, we do not know ; 
but John Adams ^^ writes of him, August i8th: "My 
friend [James] Warren, the late Governour Ward, and 
Mr. Gadsden, are three characters in which I have seen 
the most generous disdain of every spice and species of 
[selfish design] . . . The two last had not great abilities, 
but they had pure hearts. Yet they had less influence 
than many others, who had neither so considerable parts, 
nor any share at all of their purity of intention.'* Indeed, 
''Govf Ward . . . died last night of the Small Pox" as 
shown by the Diary of Richard Smith for March 26th, 
over two months before the question of declaring inde- 
pendence came (directly) before Congress. 

As early as Ward's death, the trend of events, how- 
ever, was being felt by some of the members of that 
body — among them Gerry, as we have seen by his 
(first) letter to Warren, asking Warren to originate in- 
structions, written on the very day on which Ward died ; 
and Hopkins, the remaining Delegate, very naturally, 
therefore, communicated — April 8th ^ — with Governor 
Nicholas Cooke, making certain " queries concerning de- 
pendance or independence." 

The General Assembly (of Rhode Island) accordingly, 
on May 4th, elected William Ellery ^^ to fill the vacancy 
caused by the death of Ward and, at the same time, in- 

54 



ITS HISTORT 

structed her Delegates " to consult and advise with the 
Delegates of the said [other] Colonies in Congress upon 
the most proper measures . . . to secure the said Colonies 
their rights and liberties . . . whether by entering into 
treaties ... or by such other prudent and effectual ways 
and means as shall be devised and agreed upon . . .** 

Of these instructions, Washington was immediately 
notified, by Cooke, by letter of the 6th ; and, on the 
yth, writing from Providence, Cooke replied to Hop- 
kins' letter, as follows : " [G] I am to acknowledge 
the receipt of your letter of the 8th inst., which I laid 
before the General Assembly, who appointed a com- 
mittee to take it into consideration and prepare in- 
structions to the delegates. Dependency is a word of so 
equivocal a meaning, and hath been used for such ill pur- 
poses, and independency, with many honest and ignorant 
people carrying the idea of eternal warfare, the committee 
thought it best to avoid making use of either of them. 
The instructions you will receive herewith, passed both 
houses nemine contradicente, I enclose an act discharging 
the inhabitants of the Colony from allegiance to the Brit- 
ish King . . . The first mentioned act, after being 
debated, was carried in the lower house almost unani- 
mously, there being upward of sixty members present, 
and but six votes against it. Towards the close of the 
session, a vote passed the lower house for taking the 
sense of the inhabitants at large upon the question of in- 
dependency. The upper house were of the opinion that 
although a very great majority of the Colony were per- 
fectly ripe for such a question, yet, upon its being can- 
vassed, several towns would vote against it, and that the 

55 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

appearance of disunion would be injurious to the common 
cause, and represented to the lower house that it was very 
probable the subject would be discussed in Congress, be- 
fore it would be possible to take the sense of the Colony 
in the proposed way and transmit it to the delegates, in 
which case, they would be laid under the necessity of 
waiting for the sentiments of their constituents, and of 
course the Colony would lose its voice, and the delegates 
when they should receive a copy of the act renouncing 
allegiance, and of the instructions, could not possibly en- 
tertain a doubt of the sense of the General Assembly ; 
upon which the subject was dropped." 

The " upper house " seems to have been correct in 
their judgment; for Hopkins, in his answering letter 
— dated May 15th — to Cooke, says: "Your favour 
of the 7th May I have received, and the papers en- 
closed in it. I observe that you have avoided giving 
me a direct answer to my queries concerning depend- 
ance or independence. However, the copy of the act of 
Assembly which you have sent me, together with our 
instructions, leave me little room to doubt what is the 
opinion of the Colony I came from. I suppose it will 
not be long before Congress will throw off all connec- 
tion, as well in name as in substance, with Great Britain, 
as one thing after another seems gradually to lead them 
to such a step . . ." 

The General Assembly of Connecticut, sitting at Hart- 
ford, — Trumbull and Williams being present — resolved, 
June 14th, " that the Delegates ... be, and they are 
hereby, instructed to propose to that respectable body to 

56 



ITS HISTORT 

declare the United American Colonies free and independ- 
ent States . . .'* 

This was just a week after the resolution ^^ of May 
15th of the Convention of Virginia /<? the same effect 
appeared in The Connecticut Gazette; and the Universal 
Intelligencer (N), published in New London, and after a 
Delegate of Virginia, as we shall see, had so proposed to 
Congress. 

The Provincial Congress of New Jersey, sitting at 
New Brunswick, — Abraham Clark and John Hart evi- 
dently being present but seemingly none of her Delegates 
— instructed her Delegates, March 2d: "You must be 
sensible that this Congress are extremely destitute of the 
means of information, compared with your body, and, 
of course, unable to point out any certain line of con- 
duct for you to pursue. Your deliberations must no 
doubt be formed upon the measures of the British Min- 
istry, which are uncertain, extraordinary, and new almost 
every week. We, therefore, only request that you would 
join in the general voice of the United Colonies, and 
pursue such measures as you may judge most beneficial 
for the publick good of all the Colonies.'* 

Her Delegates at this time were William Livingston, 
Richard Smith, De Hart, Jonathan D. Sergeant and 
John Cooper.^^ 

Sergeant writes to John Adams, April 6th : " [Qy] I 
arrived here [doubtless Princeton] last evening in a very 
indifferent State of Health & shall return or not return 
[to Philadelphia] according as I have Reason to believe 
1 may be more useful here or there . . . My Head 

57 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

achs & my Heart achs. I tremble for the Timidity of 
our Counsels. — " 

Five days later, certainly at Princeton, he tells Adams : 
" [Qy] The Jersey Delegates (will You believe it) are 
not in the sweetest Disposition with one another. M' 
D'Hart has gone home with an avowed Determination 
not to return without General Livingston ^^ & at the 
same Time has declared that he will offer himself as a 
Candidate for the Provincial Convention thinking that a 
more important Post, in order that he may control the 
mad Fellows who now compose that Body. — He has 
signified the dangerous Disposition of Mf Smyth & an- 
other of his Colleagues; and all the great & the mighty 
ones in the Colony are preparing to make their last 
Stand against the Principles of levelling which prevails 
in it. My Smith*s Health ^^ it seems will not admit of 
his Attendance, at least not very steadily. — In the mean 
Time I have engaged to return whenever called upon by 
General Livingston & M! D'Hart; but rather believe 
they will not call upon me, tho I have wrote to them 
requesting it, in Order that the colony may not be un- 
represented ; — tho I fear it will be misrepresented if we 
attend.^° Whether to return without them is a matter 
of some Doubt with me, especially since I have been 
told that some very pious People are circulating a Ru- 
mour that I left Congress in Disgust at the Doctrines of 
Independency which are now advanced. — Whether I 
may not do more good at home considering all things I 
am at a Loss to determine. — If my Colleagues should 
go into the Provincial Convention I should be glad to 
meet them there ; and I know the old Leven of Un- 

58 



ITS HISTORT 

rignteousness will strive hard to poison that Body by 
pushing in every Creature that can lisp against Inde- 
pendence, which in other Words, in my Opinion, is every 
Creature who would wish to give up the Quarrel. In 
Congress, if I am to be alone, it will avail little ; if with 
my Colleagues less still . . . From this State of the 
Case I should be much obliged by your Opinion . . . ^^ 
Sunday I must determine one Way or the other if pos- 
sible ... ^^ P. S. . . . The grand Difficulty here is 
that People seem to expect Congress should take the 
first Step by declaring Independencey as they phrase it . . . 
I declare boldly to People Congress will not declare 
Independence in Form ; they are independent ; every 
Act is that of Independence and all we have to do is to 
establish Order & Government in each Colony that we 
may support them in it. — Could not this idea be substi- 
tuted in the place of Independence in the Controversy, 
which, as it is treated, is no determinate Object, — brings 
Nothing to an Issue. — " 

May 20th, he writes (also from Princeton to Adams) : 
" [Qy] I wrote You soon after I arrived here . . . Ever 
since I have seen the Inside of Congress I have trem- 
bled. Nothing short of a radical Change in the Coun- 
cils of our Middle Colonies can, I am pursuaded, by any 
Means save us . . , Next Week is our Election. I wish 
I may obtain a Seat in the Convention ; but am not over 
sanguine in my Hopes tho I beUeve I could easily ac- 
complish it by going out of my present County into the 
one I came from. However am in Hopes they will 
chuse good Men there. After the Election I expect to 
pay You a Visit for a short time ; but am determined 

59 



DECLARATION' OF INDEPENDENCE 

that I will not continue to attend [in Congress] along 
with my present Colleagues any longer than I can avoid. 
At present, several little Circumstances will form an 
excuse for my being absent/' 

This letter (of May 20th), as shown by its superscrip- 
tion, was delivered ^^ to Adams by " Favour of Df Wither- 
spoon "j who had, himself, three days before it was 
written, delivered at Princeton a sermon ^* on " The 
Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men " in 
which he said: "^. . . for these colonies to depend 
wholly upon the legislature of Great Britain, would be 
like many other oppressive connexions, injury to the 
master, and ruin to the slave ... If on account of their 
distance and ignorance of our situation, they could not 
conduct their own quarrel with propriety for one year, 
how can they give direction and vigour to every depart- 
ment of our civil constitutions, from age to age? There 
are fixed bounds to every human thing. When the 
branches of a tree grow very large and weighty, they fall 
off from the trunk. The sharpest sword will not pierce 
when it cannot reach. And there is a certain distance 
from the seat of government where an attempt to rule 
will either produce tyranny and helpless subjection, or 
provoke resistance and effect a separation." 

Sam.uel Adams' letter ^^ of April 30th has given us 
some idea of the feeling that prevailed in Pennsylvania. 

On the day this letter was written, Daniel of St. 
Thomas Jenifer also writes from Philadelphia, to Charles 
Carroll : " To-morrow will determine the question of 
Dependence or Independence, in this city, by the elec- 

60 



ITS HISTORY 

tion of four additional members of Assembly ... It is 
expected ^^ this contest will not end without blows"; 
and, on the next day, George Read, also from Philadel- 
phia, to his wife, at Wilmington ; " [GR] I flatter myself 
that I shall see you on Saturday next. Last Saturday 
the Congress sat, and I could not be absent . . . This 
day is their election for additional members of Assembly. 
Great strife is expected. Their fixed candidates are not 
known. One side talk of Thomas Willing, Andrew 
Allen, Alexander Wilcox, and Samuel Howell, against 
independency ; the other, Daniel Roberdeau, George 
Clymer, Mark Kuhl, and a fourth I don't recollect; but 
it is thought other persons would be put up." 

The election is thus described by Marshall: "^^This 
has been one of the sharpest contests, yet peacable, that 
has been for a number of years ... I think it may be 
said with propriety that the Quakers, Papists, Church, 
Allen family, with all the proprietary party, were never 
seemingly so happily united . . ." 

The resolve of Congress of May 15th, recommending, 
as we shall see^^, the adoption, where not already exist- 
ing, of proper "government", however, changed the 
face of affairs.^ Indeed, as Bancroft aptly expresses it, 
" The blow which proceeded from John Adams felled 
the proprietary*^ authority in Pennsylvania and Mary- 
land to the ground . . ." 

On the evening of the very day on which Congress 
took this decisive action, Marshall, " Past seven, went 
and met a large number of persons at the Philosophical, 
by appointment (Col. McKean in the chair), where was 
debated the resolve of Congress . . ." 

61 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

On the 1 6th also, he went, "At four, to the Philo- 
sophical Hall, to meet a number of persons ... It was 
concluded to call a convention with speed ; to protest 
against the present Assembly's doing any business in 
their House until the sense of the Province was taken 
in that Convention to be called, &c., with the mode and 
manner of doing these several things by or on next 
Second Day." 

The next day, John Adams writes to his wife : " I 
have this morning heard Mr. Duffield, upon the signs 
of the times. He ran a parallel between the case of 
Israel and that of America, and between the conduct of 
Pharaoh and that of George. Jealousy, that the Israel- 
ites would throw off the government of Egypt, made 
him issue his edict, that the midwives should cast the 
children into the river ; and the other edict, that the 
men should make a large revenue of bricks without 
straw. He concluded that the course of events indicated 
strongly the design of Providence that we should be 
separated from Great Britain, &c." ^ 

On the 1 8th, Marshall writes, " A request was brought 
to this Committee *^, from a large company of the City 
and Liberties, that a general call be made of the inhabi- 
tants of the City and Liberties, to meet next Monday 
at nine o'clock forenoon at the State House, in order to 
take the sense of the people respecting the resolve of 
Congress of the Fifteenth instant, the which, after debate, 
was agreed to, only five dissenting voices." 

The meeting occurred at the appointed time, in the 
State House yard, where, Marshall, who was present, 
tells us, " it was computed, Four thousand people were 

62 



ITS HISTORT 

met, notwithstanding the rain, and then, sundry resolves 
were passed unanimously except one, and there was one 
dissenting voice, to wit, Isaac Gray. Near twelve, all 
was completed quietly and peacably . . . Went to Com- 
mittee Room at Philosophical Hall, where were con- 
firmed the resolves at the State House, and directions, 
with proper persons appointed to go with the said re- 
solves to the different counties." 

On the very day of this meeting (May 20th), Gerry 
writes : " In this Colony (Pennsylvania) the spirit of the 
people is great, if a judgment is to be formed by appear- 
ances. They are well convinced of the injury their 
Assembly has done to the Continent, by their instruc- 
tions** to their Delegates. It was these instructions 
which induced the Middle Colonies, and some of 
the Southern, to backward every measure which had the 
appearance of Independency. To them is owing the 
delay of Congress in agitating questions of the greatest 
importance, which long ere now must have terminated in 
a separation from Great Britain . . ." 

Bartlett, in a letter to Langdon, speaks of the occa- 
sion thus: " [BT] May 21** yesterday the City met, 
agreable to notification in the field before the State 
House, a stage being erected for the Moderator (Col. 
Roberdeau) and the Chief speakers M' M^ Kean &c. — 
I am told they unanimously voted that the present 
House of Assembly are not Competent to Changing 
the form of gov! and have given orders for Calling a 
Convention. Pennsylvania Assembly was to meet yes- 
terday. I fear some Convulsions in the Colony, the 
infamous instructions given by the Assembly to their 

63 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Delegates which they at their last meeting refused to 
alter is the Cause of their losing the Confidence of the 
people.** 

The Assembly had in fact met — "above stairs** in 
the building where Congress sat — on the 20th, and the 
protest*^ "of the inhabitants of the City and Liberties 
of Philadelphia, in behalf of ourselves and others ** was 
presented to the Speaker on that day ; but it was not 
read^ in the Assembly until the lid, and was then 
ordered to lie on the table. 

This protest set forth that, as understood by Bartlett, 
the Assembly was not empowered to form a government 
and that an application would be made to the Committee 
of Inspection and Observation of the City and Liberties 
of Philadelphia to call a conference. Indeed, as we have 
seen, the conference had already been called when the 
protest was read. 

The Assembly then adjourned to 3 o'clock in the 
afternoon, when they resolved that Andrew Allen, 
George Clymer, Alexander Wilcocks, Isaac Pearson and 
George Ross " be a committee to take into consideration 
the said Resolve of Congress, and the Preamble thereto ; 
and to draw up a Memorial from this House ... re- 
questing an explanation, in such terms as will admit of 
no doubt, whether the Assemblies and Conventions now 
subsisting in the several Colonies are or are not the 
bodies to whom the consideration of continuing the old, 
or adopting new Governments, is referred . . .*' 

On the same day — and; as would seem *^, before the 
Assembly met at 3 o*clock and appointed this com- 
mittee — , a number " of those called moderate men**, 

64 



ITS HISTORT 

as Marshall entitles them, prepared and began to circu- 
late^^ a remonstrance against the protest, stating that 
the subscribers to the remonstrance had never authorized 
the protest and that the desires of the majority of the 
people did not justify it. This was not formally pre- 
sented to the Assembly, however, as we shall see, until 
the 29th. 

On the day following (the 23d), an address of the 
Committee of Inspection and Observation for the County 
of Philadelphia, signed by William Hamilton, as chair- 
man, was presented to the Assembly and read. This 
asked "that you will most religiously adhere to the 
Instructions given to our Delegates in Congress." 

The Committee of Inspection and Observation of the 
City and Liberties was at once aroused. On the 24th, 
they themselves determined*^ upon a memorial to Con- 
gress, which stated " That, in consequence of a request of 
a large majority of the inhabitants ... of Philadelphia, 
on the 20th instant, the Committee have issued letters 
. . . for calling a conference of the Committees of the 
Province, in order to collect the sense of the inhabitants 
. . . That they have heard with great surprise that the 
Assembly . . . are about to present a Memorial to your 
honourable body, in consequence of a Remonstrance 
delivered to them . . . That the said Remonstrance has 
been obtained by unfair representations and indefatigable 
industry ; and is signed chiefly by those people who hold 
Offices under the Crown . . . That . . . the present 
Assembly . . . was not chosen, nor is it invested with 
powers, to carry the said resolve [of Congress of May 
15th] into execution. That a majority of the present 
5 (>S 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Assembly do not possess the confidence of the people 
. . ." This memorial — signed by MiKean, as chair- 
man — was presented (to Congress) on the 25th. 

Meanwhile, the Assembly, however, either knew not 
what to do or was unwilling to take any action what- 
ever.^ Nor did they act even on the 28th ^^, Vv^hen^^ the 
memorial of the Committee of Inspection and Observa- 
tion of the City and Liberties to Congress was read, or 
when, later in the day, a petition from " a number of the 
freemen and inhabitants of the County of Cumberland, 
was presented to the House, and read," but simply 
ordered them to lie on the table. The people of Cum- 
berland County petitioned " this honourable House 
that the last Instructions which it gave to the Delegates 
. . . wherein they are enjoined not to consent to any 
step which may cause or lead to a separation from Great 
Britain, may be withdrawn.'* Indeed, on the 29th 
(except to read the remonstrance — then presented — 
and to order it to lie on the table), 30th and 31st, noth- 
ing was done; and, on the ist, 3d and 4th of June, there 
was no quorum. 

On the 5th of June, however, the resolution of Vir- 
ginia of May 15th was read^^; and then, at last, a 
committee — Dickinson, Robert Morris, Joseph Reed, 
Clymer, Wilcocks, Pearson and Thomas Smith — was 
appointed to prepare a draft of instructions to the Dele- 
gates in Congress. They reported, on the 6th, " an 
essay for the purpose ; which was read by order, and 
referred to further consideration.'* On the 7th ^*, "the 
House resumed the consideration of the Instructions 
to the Delegates . . . And, after a debate of a consider- 

66 



ITS HISTORT 

able length, adjourned to three o'clock in the afternoon." 
At the appointed time, they " resumed consideration of 
the Instructions, and, having made some progress therein, 
adjourned to nine o'clock tomorrow morning." 



55 



Maryland charged her Delegates, January nth, that, 
*' should any proposition be happily made by the Crown 
or Parliament, that may lead to or lay a rational and 
probable ground for reconciliation, you use your utmost 
endeavours to cultivate and improve it into a happy 
settlement and lasting amity . . . We further instruct 
you, that you do not, without the previous knowledge 
and approbation of the Convention . . . assent to any 
proposition to declare the Colonies independent . . . 
unless, in your judgments ... it shall be thought abso- 
lutely necessary for the preservation of the liberties of 
the United Colonies ; and should a majority of the 
Colonies in Congress, against such your judgment, re- 
solve to declare these Colonies independent . . . then 
we instruct you immediately to call the Convention . . . 
and repair thereto with such proposition and resolve, and 
lay the same before the said Convention for their con- 
sideration ; and this Convention will not hold this 
Province bound by such majority in Congress, until the 
Representative body of the Province, in Convention, 
assent thereto." 

Nor was this enough. On the i8th, the Convention 
entered a declaration on their journal ^^ wherein they 
avowed that they " never did, nor do entertain any views 
or desires of independency." 

Indeed, as late as May 15th — the very day, as we 

67 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

have seen and shall more particularly see, when Virginia 
instructed her Delegates to propose to Congress to de- 
clare independence — , the Convention^^ (of Maryland) 
took into consideration a resolution (adopted on the 
2 1 St) which declared that "this Convention is firmly per- 
suaded that a reunion with Great Britain on constitu- 
tional principles would most effectively secure the rights 
and liberties, and increase the strength and promote the 
happiness of the whole empire . . . the said Deputies 
are bound and directed to govern themselves by the 
instructions given to them by this convention in its 
session in December last, in the same manner as if the 
said instructions were particularly repeated." 

Of the same mind doubtless was the Council of 
Safety ^^; for they say, in a letter to the Delegates, on 
June 8th — when they must have known of the resolu- 
tion of Virginia: " [Md] The intelligence with regard to 
7000 men rising and declaring for independence is with- 
out foundation ; we take it to be news from some 
incendiary . . /* 

A few of the leading men, however, of Maryland 
held different views or were wavering. On January 30th, 
Alexander writes, from Philadelphia to the Council of 
Safety: " [Md] the Instructions^^ of the Convention are 
come to Hand, but not as yet laid before Congress. I 
am much pleased with them, they entirely coincide with 
my Judgment & that Line of Conduct which I have de- 
termined to persue, the Farmer ^° and some others to whom 
in Confidence they were shewn, say they breath that 
Spirit, which ought to govern all publick Bodies, Firm- 
ness tempered with Moderation." On February 27th, 

68 



ITS HIS TORT 

however, he writes from the same place to the same body : 
" [Md] . . . with me every Idea of Reconciliation is pre- 
cluded by the conduct of G. Britain, & the only alterna- 
tive, absolute slavery or Independency, the latter I have 
often reprobated both in public & private, but am now 
almost convinced the Measure is right & can be justified 
by necessity." ^^ Indeed, Chase writes, to John Adams 
from Saint Johns, April 20th : "[Qy] In my Judgment 
You have no alternative between Independancy and 
Slavery, and what American can hesitate in the Choice ! 
but don't harangue about it, act as if We were." Stone 
writes, from Philadelphia to Daniel of St. Thomas 
Jenifer, four days later: " [Md] M^ Johnson wrote to 
you yesterday ... If the Commissioners ^^ do not arrive 
shortly and conduct themselves with great candor and 
uprightness to effect a reconciliation, a separation will 
most undoubtedly take place ... I wish to conduct 
affairs so that a just & honorable reconciliation should 
take place, or that we should be pretty unanimous in a 
resolution to fight it out for Independance, the proper 
way to effect this is not to move too quick, but then we 
must take care to do every thing which is necessary for 
our Security and Defence, not suffer ourselves to be 
lulled or wheedled by any deceptions declarations or 
givings out. You know my hearty wishes for Peace 
upon terms of Security and Justice to America. But 
war, any thing is preferable to a surrender of our rights 
... I shall set out on Saturday or Sunday next to meet 
my wife." 

It also is interesting to note that The Maryland Journal^ 
and the Baltimore Advertiser ^^ contained, in its issue of 

69 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

May 22d (Ba), the following: "Serious QUESTIONS 
addressed to the advocates for DEPENDANCE upon 
the crown of Britain . . . Are not the advocates for 
INDEPENDANCE the only true friends to the prin- 
ciples of the British constitution? ... Is not RECON- 
CILIATION an untrodden path ; for where can we find 
an instance of a people's returning to their allegiance to 
a tyrant, after he had violated every political and moral 
obligation to them ? ... Is not Independance a trod- 
den path ? Did not the United Provinces, and the Can- 
tons of Switzerland, establish their liberty by declaring 
themselves INDEPENDANT, the one of the Court 
of Spain, the other of the House of Austria ? " ^ 

"[QyC] In January ^^ i77^>" writes John Adams to 
John Taylor, April 9, 18 14, "six months before the 
declaration of independence, M- Wythe of Virginia 
passed an evening with me at my chambers. In the 
course of conversation upon the necessity of Independ- 
ence M- Withe, observ[ed] . . . that the greatest 
obstacle in the way of a declaration of it, was the 
difficulty of agreeing upon a government for our future 
regulation . . ^ General Charles Lee writes, to Wash- 
ington, from Stamford, on the 24th of the same month 
(January, 1776) : " Have you seen the pamphlets Common 
Sense? I never saw such a masterly, irresistible per- 
formance. It will, if I mistake not, in concurrence with 
the transcendent folly and wickedness of the Ministry, 
give the coup-de-grace to Great Britain. In short, I 
own myself convinced, by the arguments, of the necessity 
of separation." 

70 



ITS HISTORT 

On the 4th of February, Adam Stephen writes to 
R. H. Lee from Berkeley: "[M*] Indeed my affection 
is not only cooled, but I begin to be inveterate, and it is 
impossible that I can ever again have any attachment to 
the Mother Country." On the i6th. General Charles 
Lee writes from New York to Rush : " [BT] Your 
Common Sense is an admirable performance, but such 
is the timidity and nonsense of the greater part of the 
Community that I question much the eifects were it 
not so happily seconded by the violence and insanity 
of the Ministry which must cram down your throats 
independence in spite of the squeamishness of your 
stomachs. It strikes me that reconciliation and return 
to your former state of dependence is as much a Chimera 
as an incorporation with the Mongolian Tartars — " 
On the 20th, a member of the Convention (of Virginia) 
says : " Some people among us seem alarmed at the 
name of Independence, while they support measures, 
and propose plans, that comprehend all the spirit of 
it . . . Whenever I have been an advocate for de- 
pendence, I have felt a conscious want of publick 
virtue . . ." 

A letter from Williamsburg dated March 5th tells us : 
" The Tories and tools of Administration are constantly 
crying out that Congress is aiming at independence . . ." 

On the 1st of April, Washington — still at Cambridge 
— writes, to Joseph Reed : " [Y] My countrymen I know, 
from their form of government, and steady attachment 
heretofore to royalty will come reluctantly into the idea 
of independence, but time and persecution bring many 
wonderful things to pass ; and by private letters, which I 

71 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

have lately received from Virginia, I find ^ Common 
Sense ' is working a powerful change there in the minds 
of many men." On the 2dj John Lee writes from Essex 
City to R. H. Lee: "[M^] Independence is now the 
topic here, and I think I am not mistaken when I say, it 
will (if not already) be very soon a Favourite Child^ 
Three days later, General Charles Lee, now at Williams- 
burg, in a letter also to R. H. Lee, says: "[A] 
Pendleton is certainly naturally a Man of sense, but I 
can assure you that the other night in a conversation I 
had with him on the subject of independence He talkd or 
rather stammer'd nonsense that would have disgraced the 
lips of an old Midwife Drunk with bohea Tea and gin 
— Bland says that the Author of common sense is a 
blockhead and ignoramus for that He has grossly mis- 
taken the nature of the Theocracy — If you coud be 
spard from the Congress, Your presence might infuse 
vigor and wisdom [here] . . . for Gods sake why do 
you dandle in the Congress so strangely, why do you 
not at once declare yourselves a seperate independant 
State ? . . . I wish you woud kuff Doctor Rush for not 
writing — I expect and insist upon it — " John Page 
writes from the same city to Jefferson on the same day : 
" [S] For God's sake declare the Colonies independant, 
at once, & save us from ruin — " He writes again on the 
1 2th to R. H. Lee: " [M^] I think almost every man, 
except the Treasurer [Robert Carter Nicholas], is willing 
to declare for Independency ... I would to God you 
could be here at its next Convention. It would be 
happy for us if you [the Delegates] could be all spared 
on that occasion ; if you could, I make no doubt you 

72 



ITS HISTORY 

might easily prevail in the Convention to declare for 
Independency, and to establish a form of Government/' 
On the same day, "A. B." — also at Williamsburg — 
writes to Alexander Pardie : " The independence of the 
Colonies daily becomes more and more a topick of very 
anxious disquisition." A third letter of the I2th, from 
Petersburg, says : "In my way through Virginia, I found 
the inhabitants warm for independence^^ . . . indeed, 
I hear nothing praised but Common Sense and Inde- 
pendence." ^^ On the 20th ^^, William Aylett writes 
to R. H. Lee from King William: "[M^] The 
people of this County almost unanimously cry aloud 
for Independence." Two days later, John Augustine 
Washington writes to the same gentleman from " [M^] 
Liberty Hall " ; "I had the pleasure to receive your 
letter of the 8th April . . . You mention that you have 
opened the ports to all the world but enemies, but that 
you are apprehensive this will not do without our 
promising our aid to any such power as should get in- 
volved in a war with Great Britain from attempting to 
trade with us. I am clearly of opinion that unless we 
declare openly for Independency there is no chance for 
foreign aid . . ." 

We have also the action of the Committee of Charlotte 
County, on the 23d — a month before Boston instructed 
her representatives — , and that of the freeholders of 
James City, on the 24th. The former (the chairman 
and 15 members being present) instructed their Dele- 
gates to the Convention " to push to the utmost a war 
offensive and defensive, until you are certified that such 
proposals of peace are made to our General Congress as 

73 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

shall by them be judged just and friendly. And because 
the advantages of a trade will better enable us to pay the 
taxes, and procure the necessaries for carrying on a war, 
and in our present circumstances this cannot be had with- 
out a Declaration of Independence ; therefore, if no such 
proposals of peace shall be made ... we give it you in 
charge, to use your best endeavours that the Delegates 
which are sent to the General Congress be instructed 
immediately to cast oif the British yoke ..." The 
latter, coming together at Allen's Ordinary, declared ^^ to 
theirs ^^ that they desired them, " (provided no just and 
honourable terms are offered by the king,) to exert your 
utmost abilities, in the next Convention, towards dissolv- 
ing the connection between America and Great Britain, 
totally, finally, and irrevocably." 

Even more directly in line with the action soon to be 
taken by the Convention are the instructions of Buck- 
ingham County, though we do not know their ^^ date. 
These " recommend to, and instruct you, as far as your 
voices will contribute, to cause a total and final separa- 
tion from Great Britain to take place as soon as possible ; 
or, as we conceive this great point will not come within 
your immediate province, that, as far as in your power, 
you cause such instructions to be given to the Delegates 
from this Colony to the Continental Congress ..." 

The position of R. H. Lee — soon to be the mover 
of the resolution — and the position of Jefi^erson — soon 
to be the author of the Declaration — and the senti- 
ments of the people of the " upper counties ", as well as 
the views of Francis Lightfoot Lee, a brother of R. H. 
Lee, are given later."^^ 

74 



ITS HIS TORT 

The growth of the sentiment in Virginia was being 
felt even in Philadelphia. On May ist, Gerry writes to 
Warren : " Virginia is always to be depended upon ; and 
so fine a spirit prevails among them that, unless you 
send some of your cool patriots among them, they may 
be for declaring Independency before Congress is ready." 
On the 20th, he says : " I enclose you a Virginia paper, 
just come in, by v/hich you will see the spirit of another 
County in that Colony, exhibited in their instructions 
for Independency." 

Gerry's later letter (as well as the instructions just 
given) calls to mind, however, a communication from 
Landon Carter to Washington, dated " [S] Sabine 
Hair*, May 9th: "I need only tell you of one defini- 
tion that I heard of Independency ; It was expected to 
be a form of Government, that by being independt of 
the rich men every man would then be able to do as he 
pleasd. And it was with this expectation they sent the 
men they did [to the Convention], in hopes they would 
plan such a form. One of the deligates I heard exclaim 
agst that Patrolling laws, because a poor man was made to 
pay for keeping a rich mans Slaves in order. I shamed 
the fool so much for that he slunk away ; but he got 
elected by it. Another actually in a most seditious 
manner, resisted the draughting the militia by lot, to be 
ready for any immediate local emergency; and he got 
first returned that way. When we usd [to be] Legisla- 
tors, such rascals would have been found out ; but now, it 
is not to be supposd, that a dog will eat a dog. I know 
who I am writing to, and therefore I am not quite so 
confined in my expression, for a more decent language 

75 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

could not explain my meaning so well. And from hence 
it is that our independency is to arise ! Papers it seems 
are every where circulating about for poor ignorant 
Creatures to sign, as directions to their delegates to 
endeavour at an independency. In vain do we ask to let 
it be explain'd what is design'd by it ! If the form of 
government is to Preserve Justice, Order, Peace and free- 
dom I believe there are few who would refuse ; but when 
these only modes of Social happiness, are left so much 
concealed, or not toucht upon in the least, what sen- 
sible creatures ought to trust an ignorant representative 
to do what he pleases, under a notion of leaving his 
Constituents independant ? " 

Three days before (May 6th) this letter was written, 
" "^^45 members of the House of Burgesses met at the Cap- 
itol^* [in Williamsburg], pursuant to their last adjourn- 
ment ; but it being their opinion, that the people could not 
now be legally represented according to the ancient con- 
stitution, which has been subverted by the king, lords, and 
commons of Great Britain, and consequently dissolved, 
they unanimously dissolved themselves accordingly. 
The same day the General Convention of Delegates from 
the counties and corporations in this colony met at the 
Capitol . . . Edmund Pendleton was elected President." 

Besides Pendleton, among those present were William 
Aylett, Bland, Archibald Cary, Dudley Digges, William 
Fleming, Henry, Richard Lee, Thomas Ludwell Lee, 
James Madison, George Mason, Nelson '^^, Robert Car- 
ter Nicholas, Edmund Randolph, Meriwether Smith and 
John Augustine Washington. Page appeared on a com- 
mittee on the 15th. 

76 



In congress, July 4, 1776. 
THE UNANIMOUS 

DECLARATION 

OF THE 

■ W 
Thirteen) United States of AMERICA. 



Wn K N. in rhe CourT; of human Ev nts. It btconies nfceflary for one 
IVjpletodifTolve the i'olitical Bind, which hive mnncik.l them will, 
anuihcr, and to afTume, an.ong the •owcr> ot llie l-.arth, the Irparjte 
and equal Station to ulikh the Lavs of Natute and of Naturc'i GOD 
entitle them, a decent K^iK-d to ;he Opiiiloni of Manlund reciuiuj 
(hatttiey O-ouM declare the Cjufes which imi-el them to the Sciutalion. 

W't hold I'lffe Trbtht to he fLlfevidcnt, that all M.-n are iirated rqual. that they are 
endoieil, by their Criatoh. with certain unalienable Kij^htJ, that iin>.ni; tliclc are Life, 
Libe.Cy. and the 1'urli.it ot ■Hjci'inrls.— Thsc to Kcire t^iele Uiyhts Gnicrnments are 
inftitJUdan-.on^Mtn. rir.w.r.i; the.r ioll r..v.;r, from the Cn,.(cn<<.f .he (.o.or.ed that 
Whenvcrary I\,r;r ot Gove-pnier.t l.cconivs ild)ruell/e ot tlitle hn.s, it r.. the Ki>..ht of 
ihe PeCjIe to alter or to abohlh it, an.! to i.ilti;Lt. r.w (ioverrmcnt. I^m.^ its Foun- 
dat.onon fuch IVlnciples, and or^anii n.; its IVwer* u fuch 1-orni, .r. t ) ih( n. Hull fe.m 
moft yr.c\y to tfTeu'l th^.r Safny and Hai ,-ln..N. Fru.:,r>Cr. i.,>>d. v.i'l d da-e. th-t 
Gov{.Tr..cr.;^ K .^ ertj^'- fntd. H'ould ,.« I-.- .I,jn ,rd or li, !.[ .n.l t.an,i.-„t Caules ; jnd _ 
•CCorrSn'-ly al rTpcnc i e ;ia;K Ihewn, that M,,.k.iidiie t.ioie d.(|.i,'ul to U.licr, while 
Eviliaie^fCruiiL:/, ih^- f. - -! t I'.e-nklve* '.-y al.ol.fiint; t!r, K>,.ir.s to uhi.h ihry ate 
•CCi,;!onud. But v,I^n .■.:.■ : 1 r.in ol Abul.-s an Tlu: jT.i'i.s lurluin,; Inwrubly 
the fjr.e O'. ■]«£!, evir..c, a r.l'.un to tcd.ce ilu-ri u d.r a'-. lua- lVlt,MMln., jt i* their 
,..'li (ji.vfi.iinet;, .".nd lo !■ .n ,;_• m-iv Ouardi for 



tKcii 



ihcif 'Lture Security. S-ch in 'jl 
li nc» the .Nt-.fTiiy which conllri 
The Jl.l^orycf ("c pcc-.t Ki ■ of 
l';ur)i!ions, s:l hav,-/M . .iC C. 
«h;lc Siatei. To j:on: : >. '<l t ' 



III hi> rer, 
G ...'. 

Hi hi, !n/ 
tcjefi L- ,v..;. 
rei-deJ. h;l 

H.;b.. re^u 
u-.!el-, .h. V IV 
K;,.I.. i--il =i.a 

Ml fiscr 
i' fta;. f(,.m tl. 



bofi 



(KCof 



I.Sem to jlicr ihiir l< nr r ^)llci ,s ol l-v-emnient. 

reat-i: .laio is .in..iLry of irioalcd T, Junes Z A 
■:t ihe Ml.tsilhp.u.i ..t =n ul ;..li.ic 1 ytiimy ove» 

be lujiiiiutd ti,ac4,.d,J \Vo:M. 



ll..; nicfl who.'J.'o;;.; a.. ! i.ciifury for the public 

I •,', 1 iwi of inme !i.:'e and prcni;^ Iniiiotlance, 
I, ; .\:t '. lliov- U be obtained ; and when fj (uf- 

, l,;./.v y .''m-laiion o( iarg." DiHriris d Pt'i'.t, 
,\- 1 , • ol I c; f.!;ii;aiioii i;i the Li-j/illatu.-e, a 



1 : 
h,sMc.U!u<. 



'. f 



i-u'ud, uiicomfotiable, anil 
he lole l'ur|iolc of lati(,uii>Q 






to be clirtf'fi 

1... the IVoj.!- 
' .jII lhel)4a- 



and unacknowledged by our Laws ■, giving h'A AfTent to tV^ir Afti of pretended Leg'f- 
laiiuti : 

1-oR quartering large Bodies of ArrreJ Troops annong li : 

to» proteLling thrin, by a ni'xk Trial, from Punithmer.t fof taj Murder* which they 
fl.oold Commit en liie liiiubitant-, of th^le Stain: 

FoK cutting <jll our Trade v,.l)^ all l'art$ of ike World : 
1-OK impofin^ Taxes on us wi:hout our Confcnt : 
.' 01' depriving ui, in many Ca;rs, ol the D^^ncfiis of Trial by Jury: 
i OH tranfportin^ ui beyond Seas to tyt tried for pretended Olfencej : 
J OK abohlhin^ the tree .S,fleni ol Ln^'.ifh Laws in a i e'ghbouring i^rovlnce, tftab'.idi- 
in^^ therein an arbitrary Guverrimc.it, an 1 enlargi".^ its B.iundaries, fo as to render it ar 
onie dn Lx-niple and fit InlUun.cnt lor introdut.ng the lame ablcJute Rule into the.': 
Coljniei : 

I OK taking away our Charter!, abrfiil^rmg our cnoft valuafcle Laws, and altering fua- 
darnenijlly the t'onns of our Governn.e.'.tt : 

1 OR lulpcndiiiy our own Le^iditurei, and declaring thcmfelvei inverted with Power W 
legifljie tor us in all Calei wlutloever. 

He has abtiicated Governiiient here, by decUrinj u» out of his ProteAion, and wajjinii 
War aj^ainll us. 

iit. has pluntleied our Seas, ravaged cur Coafts, burnt our Towns, and 'dellroyed tb» 
Lives o( our i'eoplc. 

He is, at this lime, tranrj.)rtins lari;e Atm'cs of foreign Mercenaries to comp'e-e 
the Works of Death, Delolation, and "fyranny, already begun wuh Circumtlancei of 
Cruelty and I'etfidy, Ivar.ely piiadelcd itthe mj!\ barbarous A;jei. and totally unworlhf 
t'le Head ot a tiwi.i^'td NatiOii, , 

H£ has conllrainej our Fcllo-vCitii'n, taken Captive on tSr hi.iS Set:, to bear Arn-i 
a{;a.all their Country , to become the Hxccudoneri of their Fticnds and Breih.'en, or t« 
(.11 themrel-.esby i.icir Hi.. Is. 

ill hiS excited donic(\ic 1, lurrtcMons amongft os and has e.ideivoured to bring c.i 
the Inhabuants ol our l'to.-.t;er«, ih; mrreileS Ind Jn Sivi.^rs, wliof; known Rule of 
Warfare, is an undillinguil'hed D^Oiu-lion, of all A^es, 8rxv,. a,- i C.^nd.tiurs. 

\u every Stage of ih-le Of^ttellio::! ss: have reii-.iu:s'rd fjr K.d.e;s in i,,; n.vt> ho n-e 
Tvims: Our ie,.Mi. I I'eii n,,, Save be:n anLsercJ oniy bs rejve.Lr,! Ir.jjr). A l''-'.«, 
wl.ole Chiractcr u ii-.e^ nii't.cd by ever^ A:^ wh.^h may d;ar.; a Tyr^.-.t, ij unii; to Ue 



!rji;, fore; I 'jlinj with nun!y firmrefs -A 



No« have 
them, Irom I 
Ju,..,l,a,.n in 



,'e fs-. 



rhave. 



h.vh 



j<.red l^tn^ by ihi inxtA v-i k^^...^^.\ K. .i ' . 1 i • ■ . -.> i 
■ ' ■ lo;;^ i.u;rtup( our Conrwxions and C Jttcli- 'adtiVi'e, 



hive b.e..d:if to the Vu.c ol Juilie.- :iiJ ct Cl>1!.K••^4Ul.lily. Wemi.il, the.'cr.irr, a:- 
ilJieuc 'ti t?-.e .Se.'«''ty, wl.ie'i I'enoo.^t'. cur Sei: ir.;.;. j, aaJ hcldlhcin, at we h-jM ;..«' 
, vt ..■. ..,■ >t...^.>. . u-,. ,,, t' cact yr,cnJ. . 

-=- ^^ ---i-i--v r. 



a; i 1 .eAf.^ .. r.. 
Hi lu^ei,,. . •.:. 




.■ , , , 


^•^: 


It'', ojr r. J, H, ,M ' 1 ■ 
Hi l.a.kti.:.;....i . 


'i.i 


1 .11,-; ^ 


\"v< 


o! PJi Lej;inati.!rv 
Hi h:ra!^<fted to r. r 
! : - h.s co.n;b;.nid s^il 


.'"■I't 


:mo Idl 


■y ir 

;ca 



d lc:,t hither Swa.ms of C;h,eiL to !i:r. 

»l J'eace, S;anJ ng Armies, s»iihoi.'t t'lc Ct n.Vrt 

f|c.-.i;;-^l of and fuperior to il.c V-ivll Power. 
. toa Jul. .dilution foreign to out Ct'iiUiiuti. n, 



.15 I Kl 

l^-de IV 
■^* v.i-,u 



ly I'ledj^c to la^h oihi 



.■e, JI.M'.rIt l,.:,,od Co;on;ts'...-, 
.i-M)L.Nl SfA/1.-, tl u the/ are 
V v. ■ V «», and that til jxjliiical Conr.txion bt- 
.-Hni.n, IS, and oUf.;hl lo bf, to!il;y e'lfii^lved | a^l ' 
U.Nr VIAIKS, Ihry lusc lull Power lo levy War, 
I, illil h'l ConinKr<r, and to du all oiher AOs and 
i>r.ill S may o( l<ij.',t do. And for the Suppo« 
;.an.c .1, l:,e l'.o;e;i.un u' P1VI.\M I'KOVIUI-.NCE, 
out L::i, our I'iilunii, anj dut/muJ ILotur, 



C C'tt. ll-eHcT.. 
f- Jf-- Ihrrir. 
C -JtvM ]\r.r.. 



The /.'ot- .!...', >/ 
'jht.-.r.i! ],\r.t. ;uv 



■ 11-. re.. 



I rcUien. 



John Hancock* 



C/(!,i/ H'ylt, 

Km'j'ii lUnry 1 41, 
Jin,/- 'n/rriun, 
J,.^-..-r L^lr.c, J,t, 

C.'iCT B'r.ilcu. 



sure, f- .),<.; 
Ctc. Oymn^ 
CfC.Tr.:.', 

i G,o. J<0. 



F(iir(^, 



Ntvv.Jir.5 



f 11 ■■ J:W, 



y„c.ll-:!l,rip,,n, 
rra-JlflW.n, 

Aha. C'ark. 

•J,fal n.:<i:<it. 



r J:!ai. Ji.iU.tll, 
ry.HA,-;r!nmr, > I',-- IIT iffU, 



fdAfACHtiini- ^JUn/Jami, 

.e.i,E-I-lA:.D AND C J"A ric/Lim, 
rues 1 u I M I , C' f . I II 'i.'Jjn t.'Urj, 

f Rcflr Sltrman, 
t«HMCT,<i.T, pj,'„.^ritliaru, 



Plini, 
Ctny, 



A' 1) r R F. D, 



(MARY lb, 



Tli.^T 3naM',.-.:i::te(:Crjpy ofihe nr.CL/.RAlION cr ISO! PLNIM NCV, sv.ih 'he N:mt5 of tlic Mt:siBLRS of CO! .'CRESS, fubfcribing iht: fame; be fcot to eich 
ol the U.N] n li) STAT J-.S sr.d list they be dcfj ■ ' 



In congress, 

cr ISO! PENIM NCV, « 
'.Fed to t ave the fame nut on IX ECO ID. 

I3y Order of CONGRESS, 



1^^ V/ 






.^z:^ 



r^^CS^TF^ 



l^.'LiiMor.i, in hiAhviAND: TiinlcJ by Mary Katharine GcedakC'. 






ITS HISTORT 

On the nth, John Augustine Washington writes, to 
R. H. Lee : " [M^] I hardly think that the grand ques- 
tion will come on before Tuesday next '^^y as this day will 
be chiefly taken up with the Norfolk business, and on 
Monday the House is generally thin. When it does 
there will be much altercation, but I believe no danger but 
that we shall determine upon taking up Government, but 
whether they may be so explicit as I could wish in their 
Instructions to our Delegates I cannot determine, but 
hope there is no great danger." 

As he anticipated, the Convention, on the 14th, re- 
solved itself into a committee of the whole to take into 
consideration the state of the Coloiry. 

Edmund Randolph writes : *' When the disposition of 
the people as exhibited by their representatives could not 
be mistaken, Henry had full indulgence of his own pri- 
vate judgment ^^, and he concerted ^^ with Nelson that he 
(Nelson) should introduce "^^ the question of independ- 
ence, and that Henry should enforce it. Nelson affected 
nothing of oratory, except what ardent feelings might in- 
spire, and characteristic of himself, he had no fears of his 
own with which to temporize, and supposing that others 
ought to have none, he passed over the probabilities of 
foreign aid, stepped lightly on the difficulties of procuring 
military stores and the inexperience of officers and soldiers, 
but pressed a declaration of independence, upon what 
with him were incontrovertible grounds ; that we were op- 
pressed, had humbly supplicated a redress of grievances 
which had been refused with insult ; and that to return 
from battle against the sovereign with the cordiality of 
subjects was absurd. It was expected that a declaration 

77 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

of independence would certainly be passed, and for ob- 
vious reasons Mr. Henry seemed allotted to crown his 
political conduct with this supreme stroke. And yet for 
a considerable time he talked of the subject as being 
critical, but without committing himself by a pointed 
avowal in its favor or a pointed repudiation of it. He 
thought that a course which put at stake the lives and 
fortunes of the people should appear to be their own act, 
and that he ought not to place upon the responsibility 
of his eloquence, a revolution of which the people might 
be wearied after the present stimulus should cease to 
operate. But after some time he appeared in an element 
for which he was born. To cut the knot which calm 
prudence was puzzled to untie was worthy of the mag- 
nificence of his genius. He entered into no subtlety of 
reasoning, but was aroused by the now apparent spirit of 
the people. As a pillar of fire, which notwithstanding 
the darkness of the prospect would conduct to the 
promised land, he inflamed, and was followed by the 
convention." ^° 

On the 15th, the committee of the whole, of which 
Cary was chairman, reported and the Convention (112 
members being present) unanimously^^ adopted a resolu- 
tion^^ which should immortalize the Colony: 

Forasmuch as all the endeavours of the United Colonies, by 
the most decent representations and petitions to the King and 
Parliament of Great Britain, to restore peace and security to 
America under the British Government, and a reunion with that 
people upon just and liberal terms, instead of a redress of griev- 
ances, have produced, from an imperious and vindictive Admin- 
istration, increased insult, oppression, and a vigorous attempt to 

78 



ITS HISTORT 

effect our total destruction : — By a late act all these Colonies are 
declared to be In rebellion, and out of the protection of the 
British Crown, our properties subjected to confiscation, our 
people, when captivated, compelled to join In the murder and 
plunder of their relations and countrymen, and all former rapine 
and oppression of Americans declared legal and just ; fleets and 
armies are raised, and the aid of foreign troops engaged to assist 
these destructive purposes ; the King's representative In this 
Colony hath not only withheld all the power of Government from 
operating for our safety, but, having retired on board an armed 
ship. Is carrying on a piratical and savage war against us, tempt- 
ing our slaves by every artifice to resort to him, and training and 
employing them against their masters ... In this state of ex- 
treme danger, we have no alternative left but an abject submis- 
sion to the will of those overbearing tyrants, or a total separation 
from the Crown and Government of Great Britain, Inviting and 
exerting all the strength of America for defence, and forming 
alliances with foreign Powers for commerce and aid In war . . . 
Wherefore, appealing to the Searcher of hearts for the sincerity 
of former declarations expressing our desire to preserve the 
connection with that nation, and that we are driven from that 
Inclination by their wicked councils, and the eternal law of self- 
preservation : 

That the Delegates appointed to represent this Colony in 
General Congress be Instructed to propose to that respectable 
body to declare the United Colonies free and Independent States, 
absolved from all allegiance to, or dependence upon, the Crown 
or Parliament of Great Britain ; and that they give the assent of 
this Colony to such declaration, and to whatever measures may 
be thought proper and necessary by the Congress for forming 
foreign alliances, and a Confederation of the Colonies, at such 
time and In the manner as to them shall seem best : 

"^^In consequence of the above resolution, universally 

79 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

regarded as the only door which will lead to safety and 
prosperity," says a newspaper report of the time, " some 
gentlemen made a handsome collection for the purpose 
of treating the soldiery, who next day were paraded in 
Waller's grove, before Brigadier-General Lewis, attended 
by the Committee of Safety, members of the General 
Convention, the inhabitants of this city, &c. &c. The 
resolution read aloud to the army, the following toasts 
were given, each of them accompanied by a discharge of 
the artillery and small arms, and the acclamations of all 
present. /. The American independent states. 2, The 
Grand Congress of the United States^ and their respective 
legislatures, j. General Washington^ and victory to the 
American arms. The UNION FLAG of the American 
states waived upon the Capitol during the whole of this 
ceremony, which being ended, the soldiers partook of the 
refreshment prepared for them by the affection of their 
countrymen, and the evening concluded with illumina- 
tions ^* and other demonstrations of joy ; every one 
seemed pleased that the domination of Great Britain 
was now at an end . . ." 

Nelson immediately left^^ for Philadelphia to lay the 
resolution before Congress ^^, which was done. May 27th. 

Washington was in Philadelphia at the time — having 
arrived at 2 o'clock on the afternoon of the 23 d — and 
was delighted. 



87 



The progress of events in North Carolina is scarcely 
less interesting. 

Hooper writes, to James Iredell from Philadelphia, 
January 6th ; " [I] Yes, Britain, it is the criterion of 

80 



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to propose to Congress to declare independence, carried to Philadelpliia by Thomas 
Nelson, Jr., (we believe) and, as seen by the endorsement, in the handwriting of 
Charles Thomson, Sccretar\- of Congress, submitted to Congress, May 27th. It is in 
the Library of Congress, in Washington. Edmund Pendleton, President, Patrick 
Henrj', James ]iladison, George Mason, Nelson, Edmund Randolph and John 

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ITS HISTORT 

thy existence ; thy greatness totters. Luxury and wealth, 
with every vice in their train, are hurrying thee down the 
precipice, and liberty shuddering at thy fate is seeking 
an asylum westward. Oh heaven ! still check her ap- 
proaching ruin ; restore her to the affection of her Ameri- 
can subjects. May she long flourish the guardian of 
freedom, and when that change comes, and come it must, 
that America must become the seat of empire, may 
Britain gently verge down the decline of life, and sink 
away in the arms of American sons." 

Hewes writes, to Samuel Johnston from the same city, 
February nth (and 13th) and 20th and March ist: 
" [NCJ Our friend Hooper has taken an opportunity 
when he could be best spared from Congress to fly to 
the Camp at Cambridge to see his Mother, who has 
lately got out of Boston, he has been gone about Ten 
days . . . Late last night I received a Letter from him 
dated New York the 6*^; he seems greatly alarmed at 
the intelligence he had received there . . . The anxiety 
of my worthy friend for the safety, honour & happi- 
ness of our province and for his dearest connections 
there I imagine has induced him to paint things in the 
strongest colours to me ... I have furnished myself 
with a good musket & Bayonet, and when I can no 
longer be usefuU in Council I hope I shall be willing to 
take the field . . . The 13*^ . . . The only pamphlet ^^ 
that has been published here for a long time I now send 
you ; it is a Curiosity ; we have not put up any to go by 
the Waggon, not knowing how you might relish inde- 
pendency. The author is not known ; some say Doctor 
Franklin had a hand in it, he denies it." " [N] This 
6 81 



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ITS HIS TORT 

thy existence ; thy greatness totters. Luxury and wealth, 
with every vice in their train, are hurrying thee down the 
precipice, and liberty shuddering at thy fate is seeking 
an asylum westward. Oh heaven ! still check her ap- 
proaching ruin ; restore her to the affection of her Ameri- 
can subjects. May she long flourish the guardian of 
freedom, and when that change comes, and come it must, 
that America must become the seat of empire, may 
Britain gently verge down the decline of life, and sink 
away in the arms of American sons." 

Hewes writes, to Samuel Johnston from the same city, 
February nth (and ijth) and 20th and March ist: 
" [NCJ Our friend Hooper has taken an opportunity 
when he could be best spared from Congress to fly to 
the Camp at Cambridge to see his Mother, who has 
lately got out of Boston, he has been gone about Ten 
days . . . Late last night I received a Letter from him 
dated New York the 6**" ; he seems greatly alarmed at 
the intelligence he had received there . . . The anxiety 
of my worthy friend for the safety, honour & happi- 
ness of our province and for his dearest connections 
there I imagine has induced him to paint things in the 
strongest colours to me ... I have furnished myself 
with a good musket & Bayonet, and when I can no 
longer be usefull in Council I hope I shall be willing to 
take the field . . . The 13*^ . . . The only pamphlet ^^ 
that has been published here for a long time I now send 
you ; it is a Curiosity ; we have not put up any to go by 
the Waggon, not knowing how you might relish inde- 
pendency. The author is not known ; some say Doctor 
Franklin had a hand in it, he denies it." " [N] This 
6 81 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

will be delivered to you by James Thompson and John 
Crowley who have charge of the Waggon, Horses and 
sundry Articles that make up the Load ... I men- 
tioned to you in my last T express that we had not sent 
any copies of the Pamphlet entitled Common Sense but 
finding Brother Penn had a fondness for them have 
agreed some should be sent, the Council can Judge of 
the propriety of distributing them, let me know your 
opinion on that head, the Roads being very bad I was 
advised to put five horses to the Waggon I hope they 
will all be delivered safe to you . . . John Crowley who 
is the driver is recommended to me as a man very care- 
full of Horses and used to the business of driving a 
Waggon, he can neither read or write and his old master 
says should not be trusted with money, both the men 
are to have 3 s ^ day and all expenses born, if they re- 
turn here, pay them no more money than Just to bear 
their expenses, they are to be in pay till they arive here 
provided they come directly back[.]" "[NC] We 
shall send off another Waggon in a day or two with 
what Powder the new Waggon left, also drums & 
Colours for your third Regiment . . . N. B. The new 
Waggon went off eight days ago. I hear it is now no 
further than Wilmington. That one of the best Horses 
cut one of his hind feet very much with his shoe and 
cannot proceed. I have this day sent a carefull person 
down to purchase another Horse and bring the lame one 
back if it should be found necessary." 

On the day following the postscript to the first letter, 
Penn writes, also from Philadelphia, to Thomas Person : 
" [NC] The consequence of making alliances is perhaps 

82 



ITS HISTORT 

a total separation with Britain and without sometliing of 
that sort we may not be able to provide what is necessary 
for our defence. My first wish is that America may be 
free ; the second that we may be restored to peace and 
harmony with Britain upon Just and proper terms. If 
you find it necessary that the convention should meet 
sooner than May let us know of it as I wish to return at 
that time. I have been very sick for two or three days 
but am getting well again ... I send you a pamphlet 
called 'Common Sense/ published here ab* a month 
ago." 

Another letter of Hooper, written to Johnston, March 
ijth, after Hooper's return from Boston (to Philadel- 
phia)^^, still more clearly outlines his position. It says: 
'^ I most earnestly wish peace and reconciliation upon 
terms honorable to America. Heaven forbid that I 
should submit to any other." 

These letters, as appear, all were written at Philadel- 
phia. 

A little over a month later (April 15th), as shown by 
the proceedings of the Provincial Congress of North 
Carolina, sitting at Halifax, Hooper and Penn^^, " Dele- 
gates of the Continental Congress and Members of this 
House, appeared [there], subscribed the Test and took 
their seats." 

On the 17th ^^ (of April), Penn writes (from Halifax), 
to John Adams : " [Qy] After a tedious Journey, oc- 
casion [ed] by bad roads and wet weather I arrived here 
in good health, as I came through Virginia I found the 
inhabitants desirous to be Independent from Britain . . . 
North Carolina by far exceeds them occasioned by the 

83 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

great fatigue trouble and danger the People here have 
undergone, for some time past . . . All regard or fond- 
ness for the King or the nation of Britain is gone, a total 
separation is what they want. Independance is the word 
most used . . . the Convention have tried to get the 
opinion of the People at large. I am told that in many- 
Counties there were not one dissenting voice." 

A similar statement is found in a letter from Thomas 
Ludwell Lee to R. H. Lee, dated Williamsburg, Va., 
four days earlier: "[M^] Gen. Howe, in a letter 
received yesterday from Halifax . . . says . . . ^Inde- 
pendence seems to be the word ; I know not a dissent- 
ing voice.* '* 

Indeed, ten days before Hooper and Penn arrived at 
Halifax, Johnston writes from that place to Iredell, his 
brother-in-law : " [I] Our wagons arrived yesterday with 
about 2500 pounds of powder, and drums, and colors, 
for the troops. I have likewise a letter from Hewes of 
the 20th of last month, but no news except what you 
have in the newspapers. He seems in despair of a recon- 
ciliation; no Commissioners were appointed the 25th of 
December, and the Parliament was then prorogued to 
the 20th of January. All our people here are up for inde- 
pendence''' ; 2indi^ three days before they arrived (April 12th), 
the Provincial Congress, of which Johnston was Presi- 
dent, resolved ^^: ^' That the Delegates ^^ ... be em- 
powered to concur with the Delegates of the other 
Colonies in declaring Independency . . ." 

Johnston writes, again to Iredell, on the 13th: "[I] 
The House, in consequence of some very important intelli- 
gence received last nighty have agreed to impower their dele- 

84 



ITS HISTORT 

gates at Philadelphia to concur with the other Colonies in 
entering into foreign alliances^ and declaring an independence 
on Great Britain, I cannot be more particular — this is 
wrote in [Provincial] Congress/' 

The new instructions were laid before Congress, May 
2'/th — at the same time, as shown by the Journal, that 
the instructions (of May 15th) of Virginia were presented 
to that body. 

It is interesting to note that Hewes had written, to 
Johnston, on the i6th (of May) : "[NC] I have had the 
honor to receive your several favours of the io*\ 13^^, & 
17*^ ultimo enclosing sundry resolutions of your [Provin- 
cial] Congress. I took the earliest opportunity to lay 
those papers before Congress . . .'* 

Iredell, afterwards an Associate Justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, however, under date of 
June, 1776, is said to have written a pamphlet which is 
believed to have circulated quite widely in manuscript 
form among the leading men of North Carolina and 
which said : " [I] I avoid the unhappy subject of the 
day, independency. There Vv^as a time very lately, within 
my recollection, when neither myself nor any person I 
knew, could hear the name but with horror. I know it 
is a favorite argument against us, and that on which the 
proceedings of Parliament are most plausibly founded, 
that this has been our aim since the beginning, and all 
other attempts were a cloak and disguise to this particu- 
lar one. If this supposition had been well founded, and 
a desire of redressing the grievances we complained of 
had been entertained by government, they might imme- 
diately, by granting these, have detected and disap- 

H 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

pointed the other, or covered us with eternal disgrace, 
if we avowed it. But it is sufficient to say, our profes- 
sions have been all solemnly to the contrary ; we have 
never taken any one step which really indicated such a 
view; its suggestion has no more foundation than mere 
suspicion, which might countenance any falsehood what- 
ever, and every man in America knows that this is one 
of the most egregious falsehoods ever any people were 
duped with. But so it was. This error they have been 
captivated with, and it has lead them, as well as us, to 
the brink of destruction. Its consequences are now 
only to be deplored, not, I fear, to be remedied. I may 
venture to say, the dread, or the pretended dread, of this 
evil, has almost produced it. The suspicion, though so 
ill founded, has been, previously, the parent of all the 
violent acts that now irritate the minds of the Americans. 
Some are inflamed enough to wish for independence, and 
all are reduced to so unhappy a condition as to dread at 
last that they shall be compelled in their own defence to 
embrace it. I confess myself of the latter number, in 
exclusion of the former. I am convinced America is in 
no such a situation as to entitle her to consider it as a 
just object o^ ambition, and I have no idea of people 
forming constitutions from revenge, A just and consti- 
tutional connection with Great Britain (if such could be 
obtained) I still think, in spite of every provocation, 
would be happier for America, for a considerable time to 
come, than absolute independence. No man can disdain, 
more than I do, the uniform and cruel violence of our 
oppressors* conduct. But I make a distinction between 
the ministry, and even the Parliament, and the people of 



ITS HISTORT 

England. These last I do not consider as accessory in all 
the oppressions we have sustained. Many, I have no 
doubtj are great criminals, but more, I am persuaded, are 
deceived by false and wicked information. Great things 
have been attempted in our defence. But the misfortune 
is, the inadequacy of the representation^ and the corruption 
so universal^ leave little to the real voice of the people. 
If it is said that these causes may always give us such a 
Ministry and Parliament, I answer, that I form no idea 
of any reconciliation but where we shall have full security 
that even these can do us no essential injury, unless we 
conspire to it ourselves. In political affairs we are not 
always at liberty to choose what is best in the abstract^ 
but what may be found so in practice, I can see no 
establishment in America, no turn to its affairs, that is 
likely to arise of a happier nature than such a re-union. 
But if a re-union is not practicable but upon terms of 
dishonor, if one essential point is required as a sacrifice 
to obtain it, I should spurn at the idea as scandalous 
and disgraceful ; and in such an event or on any occasion 
whatever, \^ independency should become necessary to our 
safety, I should not hesitate an instant in giving my 
assent to it." 

The last instructions of the Provincial Congress^ of 
South Carolina before the adoption of the Declaration 
are dated March 23d and declare : " That the Delegates ^^ 
... or a majority of such of them as shall at any time 
be present in . . . Congress, or any one of the said 
Delegates, if no more than one shall be present, be . . . 
authorized, and empowered ... to concert, agree to, 

S7 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

and execute, every measure which they or he, together 
with a majority of the Continental Congress, shall 
judge necessary, for the defence, security, interest, or 
welfare of this Colony in particular, and of America in 
general." 

These instructions, like those of Massachusetts, of 
course, might be construed to imply a power to join in a 
declaration of independence ; but they — much less doubt- 
less than those of the Commonwealth — evidently ^^ were 
not so intended to be construed. Indeed, the govern- 
ment^^ formed a few days later was expressly declared to 
be formed to exist only " until an accommodation of the 
unhappy differences between Great Britain and America 
can be obtained, (an event which, though traduced and 
treated as Rebels, we still earnestly desire,) " ; and when, 
previously, on the loth of February, Laurens, of the 
committee charged with drafting a proposed form of 
government, had made his report, a debate, says^^ John 
Drayton, had occurred as follows : " Col. Gadsden ^^ 
([having arrived from Philadelphia on the evening of 
the 8th and] having brought the first copy of Paine's 
pamphlet entitled ^ Common Sensed &c.) boldly declared 
himself, not only in favour of the form of government ; 
but, for the absolute Independence of America. This 
last sentiment, came like an explosion of thunder upon 
the members of Congress; as the resolution of the Con- 
tinental Congress, upon which, the report for a form of 
government was grounded, had by no means led them 
to anticipate so decisive a step ; neither had the majority 
of the members at that time, any thoughts of aspiring at 
independence. A distinguished member in particular, 

88 



I 



ITS HISTORT 

declared he abhorred the idea ; and that he was willing 
to ride post, by day and night, to Philadelphia, in order 
to assist, in re-uniting Great Britain and America : and 

another called the author of Common Sense, . 

Then the few, who wished for independence, thought 
Col. Gadsden imprudent in thus suddenly declaring for 
it ; when, the house was unprepared for considering a 
matter of such great importance." 

Among the people at large, by April, however, there 
would seem to have been more than a few who favored in- 
dependence ; for, on April 12th, a gentleman writes from 

Petersburg, Va. : " I spent last evening with Mr. , 

from South-Carolina. He tells me that the people there 
have no expectation of ever being reconciled with Britain 
again but only as a foreign State " : and we know that 
David Ramsay (evidently the historian), as early as Feb- 
ruary 14th, writes, from Charleston to Rush: "[Rid] 
Who is the author of common sense ? I can scarce 
refrain from adoring the venerable man He deserves a 
statue of Gold." 

Indeed, on April 23d — the day of the instructions of 
Charlotte County, Va. — , the Chief Justice, at the open- 
ing of the courts in Charleston, charged the grand jury 
thus : " The law of the land authorizes me to declare, 
and it is my duty to declare the law, that George the 
Third, king of Great Britain, has abdicated the govern- 
ment, that he has no authority over us, and we owe no 
obedience to him . . . True reconcilement never can 
exist between Great Britain and America, the latter being 
in subjection to the former. The Almighty created 
America to be independent of Britain ; to refuse our 

89 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

labors in this divine work, is to refuse to be a great, a 
free, a pious, and a happy people ! " 
It was a declaration of independence ! 

Georgia instructed her Delegates ^^, April 5th: " Our 
remote situation [impels us to] . . . decline giving any- 
particular instructions . . . We . . . shall rely upon 
your patriotism, abilities, firmness, and integrity, to pro- 
pose, join, and concur, in all such measures as you shall 
think calculated for the common good, and to oppose 
such as shall appear destructive." 

Thus North Carolina was the first to authorize (April 
1 2th) her Delegates "to concur with the Delegates of 
the other colonies in declaring Independency " — the 
word itself being used; and thus Virginia was the first to 
authorize (May 15th) her Delegates "^^ to propose \to Con- 
gress] ... to declare the United Colonies free and 
independent States . . ." 



One of the strongest factors in bringing about the 
change of feeling in the Colonies was Common Sense, 

John Adams, in his Autobiography '^^^^ under date of 
"September, 1775", says: "[J] In the course of this 
winter appeared a phenomenon in Philadelphia, a disas- 
trous meteor, I mean Thomas Paine. He came from 
England, and got into such company as would converse 
with him, and ran about picking up what information he 
could concerning our affairs, and finding the great ques- 
tion was concerning independence, he gleaned from 

90 



ITS HISTORT 

those he saw the common-place arguments, such as the 
necessity of independence some time or other ; the pecul- 
iar fitness at this time ; the justice of it ; the provocation 
to it ; our ability to maintain it, &c. &c. Dr. Rush put 
him upon writing on the subject, furnished him with the 
arguments which had been urged in Congress a hundred 
times, and gave him his title of ' Common Sense/ In 
the latter part of the winter, or early in the spring, he 
came out with his pamphlet. The arguments in favor of 
independence I liked very well . . . [They were] clearly 
written, and contained a tolerable summary of the argu- 
ments which I had been repeating again and again in 
Congress for nine months. But I am bold to say there 
is not a fact nor a reason stated in it, which had not been 
frequently urged in Congress ^°^ . . . It has been a general 
opinion that this pamphlet was of great importance in 
the Revolution. I doubted it at the time, and have 
doubted it to this day. It probably converted some to 
the doctrine of independence, and gave others an excuse 
for declaring in favor of it.^^^ But these would all have 
followed Congress with zeaP°* ; and on the other hand it 
excited many writers against it, particularly ' Plain 
Truth,' who contributed very largely to fortify and in- 
flame the party against independence, and finally lost us 
the Aliens, Penns, and many other persons of weight in 
the community . . ." 

Bartlett writes to Langdon from Philadelphia, Febru- 
ary 19, 1776 : "[BT] The pamphlet Common Sense has 
already had three editions in this City ; in the last there 
is an Appendix and large additions ; it has also been 
reprinted at New York ; by the best information it has 

91 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

had a great effect on the minds of many here and to the 
Southward [.] " 

Common Sense says^^^: 

I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation, to show 
a single advantage that this continent can reap by being con- 
nected with Great Britain . . . 

But the injuries and disadvantages we sustain by that connec- 
tion are without number ... It is the true interest of America 
to steer clear of European contentions, which she never can do 
while, by her dependance on Britain, she is made the make- 
weight in the scale of British politics. 

. . . Everything that is right or natural pleads for separation. 
The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, ^tis 
time to part . . . 

Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary offense, 
yet I am inclined to believe, that all those who espouse the doc- 
trine of reconciliation may be included within the following 
descriptions : 

Interested men, who are not to be trusted ; weak men, who 
cannot see; prejudiced men, who will not see; and a certain set 
of moderate men who think better of the European world than it 
deserves ; and this last class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be 
the cause of more calamities to this continent than all the other 
three . . . 

. . . brino; the doctrine of reconciliation to the touchstone of 
nature, and then tell me whether you can hereafter love, honor, 
and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword 
into your land . . . 

. . . Reconciliation is now a fallacious dream. Nature hath 
deserted the connection, and art cannot supply her place . . . 

I am not induced by motives of pride, party, or resentment to 

espouse the doctrine of separation and independence ; I am 

clearly, positively, and conscientiously persuaded that it is the 

92 



I 



ITS HISTORT 

true interest of this continent to be so ; that everything short of 
that is mere patchwork ; that it can afford no lasting felicity, — 
that it is leaving the sword to our children, and shrinking back 
at a time, when a little more, a little further, would have ren- 
dered this continent the glory of the earth . . . 

. . . No man was a warmer wisher for reconciliation than 
myself before the fatal nineteenth of April, 1775 . . . 

Ye that tell us of harmony and reconciliation, can ye restore 
to us the time that is passed ? Can ye give to prostitution its 
former innocence? Neither can ye reconcile Britain and Amer- 
ica. The last chord now is broken ; the people of England are 
presenting addresses against us. There are injuries which na- 
ture cannot forgive ; she would cease to be nature if she did. As 
well can the lover forgive the ravisher of his mistress . . . 



Another very important factor was the Act^^^ declar- 
ing the Colonists out of the King*s protection. 

As early as December 21, 1775/a gentleman, writing 
from London of this " bill which has now passed both 
Houses of Parliament, and will, in a few days, receive 
the royal assent," and which treated " the Colonies as 
enemies," says : " They cannot be enemies and subjects 
at the same time . . . The pubhck begins to conceive 
that these measures will sever America forever from this 
country. The Ministry are so conscious of it, that they 
have hired Dean Tucker to soften the business, by per- 
suading the people that it will be no loss." 

Francis Lightfoot Lee writes, from Philadelphia to 
" ^^^ my dear friend " Landon Carter, " Favor'd by Mr 
Howe", March i8th (1776): "Before this I suppose 
you have reed a copy of Common sense which I sent you 

93 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

some time ago, if not I now send a parcel to Col Taylor 
of whome you may have one Our late King & his Par- 
liment having declared us Rebils & Enemies confiscated 
our property as far as they were likely to lay hands on 
it have effectually decided the question for us, whether 
or no we shall be independent all we have now to do is 
to endeavour to reconcile ourselves to the state it has 
pleased Providence to put us into and indeed upon tak- 
ing a near & full look at the thing it does not frighten 
so much as when viewd at a distance. I cant think we 
shall be injured by having a free trade with all the world 
instead of its being confined to one place whose wriches 
might allways be used to our ruin nor does it appear to 
me that we shall suffer any disadvantage by having our 
Legeslatures uncontroled by a power so far removed 
from us that our circumstances cant be known whose 
interests is often directly contrary to ours and over which 
we have no manner of controul indeed great part of that 
power being at present lodged in the hands of a most 
gracious Prince whose tender mercies we have often 
experienced ; it must wring the heart of all good men 
to part but I hope we shall have Christian fortitude 
enough to bear with partience & even cheerfullness the 
decrees of a really most gracious King. The danger of 
Anarchy & confusion I think altogether Chemerical the 
good behaveous of the Americans with no Governmt at 
all proves them very capable of good Government. But 
my dear Col. I am so fond of peace that I wish to see 
an end of these distractions upon terms that will secure 
America from future outrages but from all our intelli- 
gence I really despair. There is such an inveteracy in 

94 



ITS HISTORT 

the — & his advisers that we need not expect any- 
other alternative than slavery or separation is it not 
prudent therefore to fit our minds to the state that is 
inevitable. Virginia it seems is considered at home as 
most liable to deception & seduction & therefore the 
Comissioners are to bend their chief force that way 
backed by a considerable detachment of the Army. I 
hope it will turn to the honor of my Country as it will 
afford a opportunity for showing their Virtue & good 
sense. Col Taylor has news — I wrote yesterday to my 
friend Col R Carter . . . Genl Lee who has the South- 
ern Command . . . [has] some thought of passing thro 
Richmond, best respects to Sabin Ha]l[.] " 

John Adams, in a letter to Gates, dated Philadephia, 
March 23d, writes : " [NY] I know not whether you 
have seen the Act of Parliament call'd the restraining 
Act, or prohibitory Act, or piratical Act, or plunder- 
ing Act, or Act of Independency, for by all these titles 
is it called. — I think the most apposite is the Act of 
Independency, for King Lords and Commons have 
united in sundering this Country and that I think 
forever. — It is a compleat Dismemberment of the 
British Empire. — It throws thirteen Colonies out of 
the Royal Protection, levels all Distinctions and makes 
us independent in Spight of all our Supplications and 
Entreaties. — It may be fortunate that the Act of Inde- 
pendency should come from the British Parliament, 
rather than the American Congress : But it is very odd 
that Americans should hesitate at accepting such a 
Gift from them — However, my dear Friend Gates, all 
our Misfortunes arise from a single Source, the Reluc- 

95 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

tance of the southern Colonies to Republican Govern- 
ment . . . each Colony should establish its own Govern- 
ment, and then a League should be formed, between 
them all." 

Indeed, so strong was the feeling in the Colonies fol- 
lowing and because of this Act that the promised coming 
of the so-called " peace commissioners ", with the hope 
of probable reconciliation thus held out^^^, was all that 
deterred very many from taking a bold stand for an im- 
mediate declaration. 

Joseph Reed writes, from Philadelphia to Washington, 
March 3d : " [U] . . . there is a strange reluctance in 
the minds of many to cut the knot which ties us to 
Great Britain, particularly in this colony and to the 
southward. Though no man of understanding expects 
any good from the commissioners, yet they are for wait- 
ing to hear their proposals before they declare off", and, 
March 15th: " [S] We every Moment expect to hear 
of these Gentrys Arrival ... A little Time will show 
what we are to expect from the new Project. In my 
Part I can see nothing to be hoped from it^^^ but it has 
laid fast hold of some here & made its Impression on the 
Congress. It is said the Virginians are so alarmed 
with the Idea of Independence that they have sent M'^ 
Braxton, [He arrived, February 23d] on Purpose to turn 
the Vote of that Colony, if any Question on that Subject 
should come before Congress. To tell you the Truth 
my dear Sir, I am infinitely more afraid of these Com- 
missioners than their Generals & Armies — If their 
Propositions are plausible & Behaviour artful I am 
apprehensive they will divide us — There is so much 

96 



1 



ITS HISTORY 

Suspicion in Congress & so much Party on this Subject, 
that very little more Fuel is required to kindle the 
Flame. It is high Time for the Colonies to begin a 
gradual Change of Delegates — private Pique, Prejudice 
& Suspicion will make its Way into the Breasts of even 
good Men sitting long in such a Council as ours, & when- 
ever that is the Case their Deliberations will be disturbed 
& the publick Interest of course suffer . . . Mf Deane 
of Connecticut is gone to Europe his Errand may be 
guessed tho little is said about it. — " 

Duane writes, to R. R. Livingston from Philadelphia, 
March 20th : " [BT] . . . my friend Chase . . . has 
promised me to call on you at Clermount. He will with 
pleasure communicate every thing worth your knowl- 
edge. You will find that his usual warmth is not abated 
and that though closely attached to his friends he still 
keeps the start of them in his political system. The 
social intercourse which was formed amongst the Dele- 
gates of the ^VQ middle Colonies and North Carolina 
has suffered no diminution, and I am persuaded they 
would all combine to give you pleasure . . . When I 
first wrote to you I expected soon to have visited my 
family a happiness of which I have too long been de- 
prived ! But such is the critical state of my dear native 
country, and so slender has been our own representation 
that I could not reconcile it to my ideas of the important 
trust of which I partake. Whether we shall be recon- 
ciled to Great Britain or separated from her perhaps for- 
ever ? is a question which a few weeks may probably 
decide; and on which the happiness of millions may 
depend. I wish for peace if it can be accompanied by 
7 97 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

liberty and safety. I expect little from the justice and 
less from the generosity of administration ; but I am not 
without hopes that the interest of Great Britain will com- 
pel her ministers to offer us reasonable terms. I am 
unwilling that while Commissioners are daily looked for, 
we should by any irrevocable measure tie up our hands, 
and put it out of our power to terminate this destructive 
war. I do not think this line of conduct incompatible 
with the most vigorous efforts for our defence in the 
ensuing campaign. — I believe it to be agreable to the 
sense of our constituents which would alone be decisive 
with me. — under these impressions, I wait for the ex- 
pected propositions with painful anxiety. If they should 
prove oppressive or frivolous we will be at no loss to 
form a judgment of the consequences." 

The effect upon Robert Morris is shown by a letter 
from him of ^^^ April 6th, from Philadelphia to Gates : 
"[NY] Where the plague are these Commissioners, if 
they are to come what is it that detains them ; It is time 
we should be on a Certainty & know positively whether 
the Libertys of America can be established & secured by 
reconciliation, or whether we must totally renounce Con- 
nection with Great Britain & fight our way to a total 
Independance. Whilst we Continue thus firmly United 
amongst ourselves theres no doubt but either of these 
points may be carried, but it seems to me, We shall quar- 
rell about which of these roads is best to pursue unless 
the Commissioners appear soon and lead us into the first 
path, therefore I wish them to come, dreading nothing 
so much as even an appearance of division amongst 
ourselves — *' 

98 



ITS HISTORY 

We have already ^" seen a letter from Stone, of April 
24th. 

Meanwhile, as already shown by Reed's letter, the 
struggle in Congress had become more bitter : so much so 
that it extended to the different members of a delegation. 

John Adams, in his Autobiography^ under date of Feb- 
ruary 29th, says : " [J] . . . [Harrison] seemed to be 
set up in opposition to Mr. Richard Henry Lee. Jeal- 
ousies and divisions appeared among the delegates of no 
State more remarkably than among those of Virginia . . . 
I asked the reason ; for Mr. Lee appeared a scholar, a 
gentleman, a man of uncommon eloquence, and an agree- 
able man. Mr. Wythe said . . . this was all true, but 
Mr. Lee had, when he was very young, and when he 
first came into the House of Burgesses, moved and urged 
on an inquiry into the state of the treasury, which was 
found deficient in large sums, which had been lent by 
the treasurer to many of the most influential families of 
the country, who found themselves exposed, and had 
never forgiven Mr. Lee . . . These feelings among the 
Virginia delegates were a great injury to us. Mr. Samuel 
Adams and myself were very intimate with Mr. Lee, and 
he agreed perfectly with us in the great system of our 
policy, and by his means we kept a majority of the dele- 
gates of Virginia with us. But Harrison, Pendleton^^^, 
and some others showed their jealousy of this intimacy 
plainly enough at times. Harrison consequently courted 
Mr. Hancock and some other of our colleagues, but we 
had now a majority ^^^, and gave ourselves no trouble ^^* 
about their little intrigues." 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

He tells us (In his Autobiography) also that he had 
been appointed (October 28, 1775) Chief Justice of 
the Superior Court of Judicature of his Colony and : 
"[J] I soon found [after the return to Congress on 
February 9, 1776], there was a whispering among the 
partisans in opposition to independence, that I was 
interested ; that I held an office under the new govern- 
ment of Massachusetts ; that I was afraid of losing it, 
if we did not declare independence ; and that I con- 
sequently ought not to be attended to. This they cir- 
culated so successfully, that they got it insinuated among 
the members of the legislature in Maryland, where their 
friends were powerful enough to give an instruction to 
their delegates in Congress, warning them against listen- 
ing to the advice of interested persons, and manifestly 
pointing me out to the understanding of every one^^^ 
. . . These chuckles I was informed of, and witnessed 
for many weeks, and at length they broke out in a very 
extraordinary manner. When I had been speaking one 
day on the subject of independence, or the institution 
of governments, which I always considered as the same 
thing, a gentleman of great fortune and high rank rose 
and said, he should move, that no person who held any 
office under a new government should be admitted to 
vote on any such question, as they were interested per- 
sons ... I rose from my seat with great coolness and 
deliberation . . . and said :'...! will second the gen- 
tleman*s motion, and I recommend it to the honorable 
gentleman to second another which I should make, 
namely, that no gentleman who holds any office under 
the old or present government should be admitted to 

100 



ITS HISTORT 

vote on any such question, as they are interested per- 
sons/ The moment when this was pronounced, it flew 
like an electric stroke through every countenance in the 
room, for the gentleman who made the motion held as 
high an office under the old government as I did under 
the new, and many other members present held offices 
under the royal government . . . This whole scene was 
a comedy to Charles Thomson, whose countenance was 
in raptures all the time. When all was over, he told me 
he had been highly delighted with it, because he had been 
witness to many of their conversations, in which they had 
endeavored to excite and propagate prejudices against 
me . . ." 

He says that in May there were continued alter- 
cations in Congress over General Wooster, Commodore 
Hopkins and a Mr. Wrixon and that "[J] These three 
consumed an immense quantity of time, and kept up the 
passions of the parties to a great height. One design was 
to divert us from our main object." 

The "main object" was a declaration of independence 
or its equivalent. 

As early as January 9th, as shown by the Diary of 
Richard Smith : " Wilson moved and was strongly sup- 
ported that the Congress may expressly declare to their 
Constituents and the World their present Intentions 
respecting an Independency, observing that the Kings 
Speech directly charged Us with that Design, he was 
opposed but Friday was fixed for going into that Affair. 
Several Members said that if a Foreign Force shall be 
sent here, they are willing to declare thS* Colonies in a 
State of Independent Sovereignity." 

lOI 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Of this motion, Samuel Adams writes, to John Adams, 
who, as we have seen, was then on leave of absence : 
"[SA] The Motion alarmd me — I thought Congress 
had already been expHcit enough and was apprehensive 
that we might get ourselves on dangerous Ground — 
Some of us prevaild so far as to have the Matter post- 
pond, but could not prevent the assigning a Day to 
consider it — I may perhaps have been wrong in oppos- 
ing this Motion, and I ought the rather to suspect it, 
because the Majority of your Colony as well as of the 
Congress were of a different Mind[.]" 

The Diary of Richard Smith shows also (under the 
following dates) : " [January 24th] most of the Day was 
spent on a Proposal to address the People of America 
our Constituents deducing the Controversy ab Initio and 
informing them of our Transactions and of the present 
State of Affairs, much was said about Independency and 
the Mode and Propriety of stating our Dependance on 
the King, a Com? was appointed to draw the Address/' 
"[February 13th] Wilson brought in the Draught of an 
Address to our Constituents which was very long, badly 
written and full against Independency [.] " "[February 
1 6th] Wyth also offered Propositions whereof the first 
was that the Colonies have a Right to contract Alli- 
ances with Foreign Powers, an Objection being offered 
that this was Independency there ensued much Argument 
upon that Ground . . ." "[February 21st] W? Living- 
ston moved that the Thanks of the Congress be given to 
D' Smith for his Oration on Gen. Montgomery and that 
he be desired to make it public, this was objected to for 
several Reasons the chief was that the D.' declared the 

102 



I 



ITS HISTORY 

Sentiments of the Congress to continue in a Dependency 
on G Britain which Doctrine this Congress cannot now 
approve, Principal Speakers for the Motion Duane, 
Wilson, Willing, against it Chase, John Adams, Wyth 
E Rutledge, Wolcott, Sherman at length Mf Living- 
ston withdrew his Motion." " [February 29th] 4 Hours 
were spent in Grand Com? on Trade without any Con- 
clusion . . . the Points now agitated were the Expedi- 
ency and Probability of contracting foreign Commercial 
Alliances and chiefly with France and Spain, and the 
Advantages and Disadvantages of attempting to carry 
on Trade in our present Circumstances, much was said 
about declaring our Independency on G Britain when it 
appeared that 5 or 6 Colonies have instructed their 
Delegates not to agree to an Independency till they, 
the Principals are consulted . . /* 

Wythe, during the discussions, sometime before 
March ist, as shown by John Adams' debates , declared: 
*'[J] If we should offer our trade to the Court of France, 
would they take notice of it any more than if Bristol or 
Liverpool should offer theirs, while we profess to be 
subjects ? No. We must declare ourselves a free 
people." 

Reed writes, from Philadelphia, to Pettit, March 3d: 
" [U] I look upon separation from the Mother Country 
as a certain event, though we are not yet so familiarized 
to the idea as thoroughly to approve it . . . The Con- 
gress are paving the way to a Declaration of Independ- 
ence, but I believe will not make it until the minds 
of the people are better prepared for it than as yet 
they are." 

103 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

The important entries on the subject in the Diary 
of Richard Smith during this month are as follows : 
" [March 9th] Instruc[tions for the Commissioners] 
going to Canada . . . took up 3 or 4 Hours . . . that 
Part recommend'g to them [to] form a Constitution and 
Governm^ for themselves without Limitation [of] Time 
which Jay and others said was an Independency and there 
was much Argum! on this Ground [.]'* "[March 22d] 
Wyth reported the Preamble about Privateering, he and 
Lee moved an Amend! wherein the King was made 
the Author of our Miseries instead of the Ministry, 
it was opposed on Supposition that this was effectually 
severing the King from Us forever and ably debated for 
4 Hours when Maryland interposed its Veto and put 
it off till Tomorrow, Chief Speakers for the Amend! 
Lee, Chase, Sergeant, Harrison, against it Jay, Wilson, 
Johnson/* 

On the 23d (of March), John Adams, in his letter to 
Gates, writes: "[NY] I agree with you, that in PoHticks 
the Middle Way is none at all . . . We have hitherto 
conducted half a War, acted upon the Line of Defence 
&c &c — But you will see by tomorrows Paper, that for 
the future We are likely to wage three Quarters of a War. 
— The Continental Ships of War, and Provincial Ships 
of War, and Letters of Mark and Privateers are per- 
mitted to cruise upon British Property, wherever found 
on the Ocean. This is not Independency you know, 
nothing like it. If a Post or two more, should bring 
you unlimited latitude of Trade to all Nations, and a 
polite Invitation to all nations, to trade with you, take 
care that you dont call it, or think it Independency. 

104 



ITS HISTORY 

No such Matter — Independency is an Hobgoblin, of so 
frightfull Mein, that it would throw a delicate Person 
into Fits to look it in the Face." 

On April I2thj he sends an epistle to his wife in which 
we read : " [J] The ports are opened wide enough at 
last, and privateers are allowed to prey upon British 
trade. This is not independency, you know. What 
is ? Why, government in every colony, a confederation 
among them all, and treaties with foreign nations to 
acknowledge us a sovereign State, and all that." 

A letter from him dated two days later ^^^ says : " As 
to declarations of independency, be patient. Read our 
privateering laws and our commercial laws. What sig- 
nifies a word ? " 

Had the telegraph then threaded the country as now, 
he would already have known, by the morning of the 
13 th, that, while he was writing his wife. North Carolina 
was, as we have seen, empowering her " Delegates . . . 
to concur with the Delegates of the other Colonies in 
declaring Independency . . ." 

Less than a month later (May loth), Congress took 
into consideration and adopted a resolution " [J] brought 
before the Committee of the whole house, in concert 
between " R. H. Lee and John Adams, which the latter 
considered " [J] an epocha, a decisive event." ^^'^ 

The words of the resolution, as given in the Journal, 
were : " That it be recommended to the respective As- 
semblies and conventions of the united colonies where no 
government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs 
have been hitherto established to adopt such government 
as shall in the opinion of the representatives of the 

los 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

people best conduce to the happiness and safety of their 
constituents in particular and America in general." 

John Adams, Edward Rutledge and R. H. Lee were 
chosen '^^^ a committee to prepare a preamble. Their 
report was agreed to on the 15th, and it v/as then ordered 
that both the resolution and the preamble be published. 
The preamble, as shown by the Journal, declared : 
" Whereas his Britannic Majesty in conjunction with the 
lords and commons of great Britain has by a late act of 
Parliament excluded the inhabitants of these united col- 
onies from the protection of his crown And whereas no 
answer whatever to the humble petitions of the colonies 
for redress of grievances & reconciliation with great 
Britain has been or is likly to be given . . . And 
whereas ... it is necessary that the exercise of every 
kind of authority under the said crown should be totally 
suppressed . . ." ^^^ 

Two days later, John Adams writes to his wife : 
" When I consider the great events which are passed, 
and those greater which are rapidly advancing, and that 
I may have been instrumental in touching some springs 
and turning some small wheels, which have had and will 
have such effects, I feel an awe upon my mind which is 
not easily described. Great Britain has at last driven 
America to the last step : a complete separation from 
her ; a total, absolute independence, not only of her 
Parliament, but of her Crown, for such is the amount of 
the resolve of the 15th." ^^ In his Autobiography, he 
says : " [J] Mr. Duane ^^^ called it to me, a machine for 
the fabrication of independence. I said, smiling, I 
thought it was independence itself ^^^, but we must have 

io5 



ITS HISTORT 

It with more formality yet." "[J] It was indeed, on all 
hands, considered by men of understanding as equivalent 
to a declaration of independence, though a formal decla- 
ration of it was still opposed by Mr. Dickinson and his 
party." 

Gerry, on the 20th, says, to Warren : " It appears to 
me that the eyes of every unbeliever are now open ; that 
all are sensible of the perfidy of Great Britain, and are 
convinced there is no medium between unqualified sub- 
mission and actual Independency. The Colonies are 
determined on the latter. A final declaration is ap- 
proaching with great rapidity. Amidst all our difficul- 
ties, you would be highly diverted to see the situation of 
our ^moderate gentlemen.' . . . They are coming over 

to us . . r ''' 

Indeed, while these letters were travelling northward. 
Nelson, as we have seen, was on his way to Philadel- 
phia with the resolution of the Convention of Virginia 
instructing her Delegates to propose to Congress to declare 
independence. These instructions, as well as those of 
North CaroHna, as we have seen, were laid before Con- 
gress on the 27th. 

On the 31st, Gerry writes to Joseph Palmer : " [NE] 
The Conviction which y^ late Measures of Administration 
have brot to y^ Minds of doubting Persons has such an 
EflTect, that I think y^ Colonies cannot long remain an 
independent depending People, but that they will declare 
themselves as their Interest & Safety have long required, 
entirely separated from y^ prostituted Government of 
G Britain. Upon this Subject I have wrote to our 
Friend Col : Orne & beg leave to refer you thereto — 

107 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

The principal object of our attention at this important 
Time I think should be y^ Manufacturing Arms, Lead 
& Cloathing, & obtaining Flints, for I suppose since y° 
Measures adopted by North Carolina and Virginia that 
there cannot remain a Doubt with our Assembly of y* 
propriety of declaring for Independency and therefore 
that our Tho'ts will be mostly directed to y^ Means for 
supporting it." 

John Adams also ^^* felt at once that the goal was near.^^^ 
" [J] It has ever appeared to me '', he writes ^^^ to Henry, 
June 3d, "that the natural course and order of things 
was this ; for every colony to institute a government ; 
for all the colonies to confederate, and define the limits 
of the continental Constitution ; then to declare the colo- 
nies a sovereign state, or a number of confederated states ; 
and last of all, to form treaties with foreign powers. But 
I fear we cannot proceed systematically, and that we shall 
be obliged to declare ourselves independent States, before 
we confederate, and indeed before all the colonies have 
established their governments. It is now pretty clear 
that all these measures will follow one another in a rapid 
succession, and it may not perhaps be of much importance 
which is done first." 



108 




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ITS HISTORT 



IV 

INITIAL STEPS 

THE initial action in Congress regarding a 
declaration of independence was taken, Fridajr, 
June 7th. The following is the entry in the 
Journal ^, in the handwriting of Charles Thomson, the 
Secretary : 

Certain resolutions ^ being moved & seconded 
Resolved That the consideration of them be referred till to mor- 
row morning & that the members be enjoined to attend punc- 
tually at 10 ''clock in order to take the same into consideration. 

These " Certain resolutions '* ^ were as follows : 

[S] Refolved 

■t he good people of [?] 

That^these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, 
free and independent States, that they are absolved from all alle- 
giance to the British Crown, and that all political connection be- 
tween them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, 
totally difsolved. 

That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual meas- 
ures for forming foreign Alliances. 

That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to 
the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation. 

They were offered by Richard Henry Lee* and 
seconded by John Adams. 

109 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

We find an interesting comment in Adams' Auto- 
biography : " [J] It will naturally be inquired why^ these 
resolutions, and the names of the gentlemen who moved 
and seconded them, were not inserted on the Journals. 
To this question, I can give no other answer than this. 
Mr. Hancock was President, Mr. Harrison, chairman of 
the committee of the whole house, Mr. Thomson^, 
the secretary, was cousin to Mr. Dickinson, and Mr. 
R. H. Lee and Mr. John Adams were no favorites of 
either." 

The first resolution was offered — primarily, at least ^ 
— in direct conformity to the resolution of the Conven- 
tion of Virginia of May 15th; "That the Delegates ap- 
pointed to represent this Colony in General Congress be 
instructed to propose to that respectable body, to declare 
the United Colonies free and independent States " ; and 
Jefferson is reported ^ as saying : " Richard H. Lee 
moved . . . [it] only^ because he was the oldest member 
of the Virginia delegation." 



On June 8th (Saturday), as shown by the Journal, 

The Congress took into consideration the resolutions moved 
yesterday, 

Resolved That they be referred to a committee of the whole 
Whereupon The Congress resolved itself into a committee of 
the whole to take into considerations the resolutions referred to 
them and after some time spent thereon the president resumed 
the chair and M^ Harrison reported that the Committee have 
taken into consideration ^^ the matter to them referred but not 
having come to any resolution thereon desired leave to sit again 
on monday next. 

no 



ITS HIS TORT 

at lo oclock. 

Resolved That this ^^ Congress will on Monday next^resolve itself 
into a committee of the whole to take into their farther con- 
sideration the the resolutions referred to them 

Jefferson, in his notes^'^^ gives us the following account 
of the debate ^^ in the committee of the whole on this 
day (and on Monday, the loth): 

It was argued by ^* Wilson, Robert R. Livingston, th€-fewe- 

Rutlege*^^, Dickinson ^"^ and others ^^ 

That tho' they were friends to the measures themselves, and 
saw the impossibility that we should ever again be united with 
Gr-Britain, yet they were against adopting them at this ^^ time : 

That the conduct we had formerly observed was wise & proper 
now, of deferring to take any capital step till the voice of the 
people drove us into it: 

That they were our power, & without them our declarations 
could not be carried into effect : 

That the people of the middle colonies (Pe tinsylvam a, Maryland, 
©ek-^^ Delaware, Pennsylva, the Jersies & N. York) were not 
yet ripe for bidding adieu to British connection, but that they were 
fast ripening, & in a short time would join in the general voice 
of America: 

That the resolution entered into by this house on the 15*'* of 
May for suppressing the exercise of all powers derived from the 
crown, had shown, by the ferment into which it had thrown 
these middle colonies, that they had not yet accommodated their 
minds to a separation from the mother country : 

That some of them had expressly forbidden their delegates to 
consent to such a declaration, and others had given no instruc- 
tions, & consequently no 

[The following is on the reverse side of page i :] 

III 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

2. 

powers to give such assent : 

That if the delegates of any particular colony had no power 
to declare such colony independant, certain they were the others 
could not declare it for them ; the colonies being as yet perfectly 
independant of each other : 

That the assembly of Pennsylvania was now sitting above 
stairs, their convention would sit within a few days, the conven- 
tion of New York was now sitting, & those of the Jersies & 
Delaware counties would meet on the Monday following & it 
was probable these bodies would take up the question of Inde- 
pendance & would declare to their delegates the voice of their state: 

That if such a declaration should now be agreed to, these dele- 
gates must -new 21 retire, & possibly their colonies might secede 
from the Union : 

That such a secession would weaken us more than could be 
compensated by any foreign alliance : 

That in the event of such a division, foreign powers would 
either refuse to join themselves to our fortune, or having us so 
much in their power as that desperate declaration would place 
us, they would insist on terms proportionally more hard & 
prejudicial : 

That we had little reason to expect an alliance with those to 
whom alone as yet we had cast our eyes : 

That France & Spain had reason to be jealous of that rising 
power which would one day certainly strip them of all their 
American possessions : 

That it was more likely they should form a connection with 
the British court, who, if they should find themselves unable 
otherwise to extricate themselves from their difficulties, would 
agree to a partition of our territories, restoring Canada to France, 
& the Floridas to Spain, to accomplish for themselves a recovery 
of these colonies : 

112 



ITS HISTORT 

That it would not be long before we should receive certain 
information of the disposition of the French court, from the 
agent whom we had sent to Paris for that purpose : 

That if this disposition should be favourable, by waiting the 

the present 

event of another^ campaign, which we all hoped would be 

succesful 22 

favourable, we should have reason to expect an alliance on better 
terms : 

That this would in fact work no delay of any effectual aid 
from such 

3- 

ally, as, from the advance of the season & distance of our situa- 
tion, it was impossible we could receive any assistance during 
this campaign : 

That it was prudent to fix among ourselves the terms on 
which we would form alliance, before we declared we would 
form one at all events : 

And that if these were agreed on, & our Declaration of Inde- 
pendance ready by the time our Ambassadour should be prepared 
to sail, it would be as well, as to go into that Declaration at 
this day. 

On the other side it was urged by J. Adams 2^, [R. H.] 
Lee 23 24^ Wythe and others 25. 

That no gentleman had argued against the policy or the right 
of separation from Britain, nor had supposed it possible we should 

had 26 

ever renew our connection: that they^only opposed it's being 
now declared : 

That the question was not whether, by a declaration of in- 
dependance, we should make ourselves what we are not; but 
whether we should declare a fact which already exists : 27 

That as to the people or parliament of England, we had alwais 
been independant of them, their restraints on our trade deriving 
efficacy from our acquiescence only, & not from any rights they 
8 113 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

possessed of imposing them, & that so far our connection had 
been federal only & was now dissolved by the commencement of 
hostilities : 

That as to the king, we had been bound to him by allegiance, 
but that this bond was now dissolved by his assent to the late act 
of parliament, by which he declares us out of his protection, and 
by his levying war on us, a fact which had long ago proved us 
out of his protection ; it being a certain position in law that 
allegiance & protection are reciprocal, the one ceasing when 
the other is withdrawn : 

That James the Ilf never declared the people of England out 
of his protection yet his actions proved it & the parliament 
declared it: 

No delegates then can be denied, or ever want, a power of 
declaring an existing truth : 

That the Delegates from the Delaware counties having de- 
clared their constituents ready ^8 to join, there are only ^9 two 
colonies, Pennsylvania & Maryland whose delegates are absolutely 
tied up, and that these had by their instructions only reserved a 
right of confirming or rejecting the measure : 

[The following is on the reverse side of page 3 :] 

4- 

That the instructions from Pennsylvania might be accounted 
for from the times in which they were drawn, near a twelve- 
month ago, since which the face of affairs has totally changed : 

That within that time it had become apparent that Britain was 
determined to accept nothing less than a carte blanche, and that 
the king's answer to the Lord Mayor Aldermen & common coun- 
cil of London, which had come to hand four days ago, must have 
satisfied everyone of this point : 

That the people wait for us to lead the way : in this -:=^^ 

That they are in favour of the measure, tho' the instructions 
given by some of their representatives are not : 



ITS HISTORT 
That the voice of the representatives is not alwais conso- 

withsi 

nant^te- the voice of the people, and that this is remarkably the 
case in these middle colonies : 

That the effect of the resolution of the 15*!^ of May has proved 
this, which, raising the murmurs of some in the colonies of Penn- 
sylvania h Maryland, called forth the opposing voice of the freer 
part of the people, & proved them to be the majority, even in 
these colonies : 

That the backwardness of these two colonies might be as- 
cribed partly to the influence of proprietary power & connections, 
& partly to their having not yet been attacked by the enemy : 

That these causes were not likely to be soon removed, as there 
seemed no probability that the enemy would make either of these 
the seat of this summer's war : 

That it would be vain to wait either weeks or months for per- 
fect unanimity, since it was impossible that all men should ever 
become of one sentiment on any question : 

That the conduct of some colonies from the beginning of this 
contest, had given reason to suspect it was their settled policy to 
keep in the rear of the confederacy, that their particular prospect 
might be better even in the worst event : 

That therefore it was necessary for those colonies who had 
thrown themselves forward & hazarded all from the beginning, to 
come forward now also, and put all again to their own hazard: 

That the history of the Dutch revolution, of whom three states 
only confe- 

5- 
derated at first proved that a secession of some colonies would not 
be so dangerous as some apprehended : 

That a declaration of Independance alone could render it con- 
sistent with European delicacy ^^ for European powers to treat 
with us, or even to receive an Ambassador from us : 

That till this they would not receive our vessels into their ports, 

115 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

nor acknowlege the adjudications of our courts of Admiralty to 
be legitimate, in cases of capture of British vessels : 

That tho' France & Spain may be jealous of our rising power, 
they must think it will be much more formidable with the ad- 
dition of Great Britain ; and will therefore see it their interest ^^ 
to prevent a coalition ; but should they refuse, we shall be but 
where we are ; whereas without trying we shall never know 
whether they will aid us or not : 

That the present campaign may be unsuccesful, & therefore 
we had better propose an alliance while our affairs wear a hope- 
ful aspect : 

That to wait the event of this campaign will certainly work 
delay, because during the summer France may assist us effectually 
by cutting off those supplies of provisions from England & Ireland 
on which the enemy's armies here are to depend ; or by setting 
in motion the great power they have collected in the West Indies, 
& calling our enemy to the defence of the possessions they have 
there : 

That it would be idle to lose time in settling the terms of alli- 
ance, till we had first determined we would enter into alliance : 

That it is necessary to lose no time in opening a trade for our 
people, who will want clothes, and will want money too for the 
paiment of taxes : 

And that the only misfortune is that we did not enter into 
alliance with France six months sooner, as besides opening their 
ports for the vent of our last year's produce, they might have 
marched an army into Germany and prevented the petty princes 
there from selling their unhappy subjects to subdue us. 

In the evening (of the 8th ^), following the debate, 
Edward Rutledge writes^ to Jay: "[Z] The Congress 
sat till 7^ o'clock this evening in consequence of a mo- 
tion of R. H. Lee's rendering ourselves free & independ- 

ii6 















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^ .t I i J I 

N . , ti C O .S ^ -^3 

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■1 ^ K n 55£ IJ t1 ^ 



ITS HISTORT 

ant State. The sensible part of the House opposed the 
Motion — they had no objection to forming a Scheme of 
a Treaty which they would send to France by proper 
Persons & uniting this Continent by a Confederacy; they 
saw no Wisdom in a Declaration of Independence, nor 
any other Purpose to be enforced by it, but placing our- 
selves in the Power of those with whom we mean to treat, 
giving our Enemy Notice of our Intentions before we had 
taken any steps to execute them . . . The event, hov/- 
ever, was that the Question was postponed; it is to be 
renewed on Monday when I mean to move that it should 
be postponed for 3 Weeks or Months. In the mean 
Time the plan of Confederation & the Scheme of Treaty 
may go on. I don't know whether I shall succeed in 
this Motion; I think not, it is at least Doubtful. How- 
ever I must do what is right in my own Eyes, & Conse- 
quences must take Care of themselves. I wish you had 
been here — the whole Argument was sustained on one 
side by R. Livingston, Wilson, Dickenson, & myself, & 
by the Power of all N. England, Virginia & Georgia at 
the other." 



On Monday, June loth^^, the Journal tells us, 

Agreeable to Order the Congress resolved itself into a 
committee of the whole to take into their farther considera= 
the resolutions to them referred and after some time spent ^'^ 
thereon the president resumed the chair -a»d^^4^^ — ffewsoa- 
rc ported that — the — Com ^^ — ha¥« — tak-ea — tf^ie — eonsidcrati -oH — the- 
matter to thorn referred and M"" Harrison reported that the com- 
mittee have had under consideration the resolutions to them 
referred and have come to a resolution^, which he he read 

117 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

The Congress took into consideration the report from the 
committee of the whole whereupon 

consideration of the 

Resolved That the^first resolution be postponed to this day 

while that no 

three weeks, and -that-, in the mean ^tim o Icaot an y- time ohould 

agree thereto that 

be lost in case the Congress ^to this rcoolutioa^ a committee be 
appointed to prepare a declaration to the effect of the said first 
resolution, which is in these words 

" That these united colonies are and of right ought to be free 
and independant states; that they are absolved from all allegi- 
ance to the British Crown and that all political connection be- 
tween them & the state of great Britain is & ought to be totally 
dissolved" 
Resolved That the com^^ be discharged. 

The several matters to this day referred being postponed 
Adjourned to 9 o clock to morrow. 

" The question for postponing the declaration . . . 
was carried by seven Colonies against ^vq : [.] " ^^ 
Jefferson's notes say : 

It appearing in the course of these debates that the colonies of 

& South Carolina*© 

N. York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware &- Maryland^ 
had not y e t advanced to were not yet matured for falling eff from 
the parent stem, but that they were fast advancing to that state, it 
was thought most prudent to wait a while for them, and to post- 
pone the final decision to July i. 

It seems highly probable*^ — though the language is 

not very definite — that the change of H ewes *^ spoken 

of by John Adams in a letter ^ to William Plumer, dated 

Quincy, March 28, 18 13, took place, in the committee 

of the whole, upon this day (or upon the 8th ?). Adams 

says : " [J] You inquire, in your kind letter of the 19th, 

118 



ITS HIS TORT 

whether ^ every member of Congress did, on the 4th of 
July, 1776, in fact, cordially approve of the declaration 
of independence.* They who were then members, all 
signed it, and, as I could not see their hearts, it would 
be hard for me to say they did not approve it ; but, as 
far as I could penetrate the intricate, internal foldings of 
their souls, I then believed, and have not since altered 
my opinion, that there were several who signed with 
regret, and several others, with many doubts and much 
lukewarmness. The measure had been upon the market 
for months, and obstinately opposed from day to day. 
Majorities were constantly against it. For many days 
the majority depended on Mr. Hewes, of North Caro- 
lina. While a member**, one day, was speaking, and 
reading documents from all the colonies, to prove that 
the public opinion, the general sense of all, was in favor 
of the measure, when he came to North Carolina, and 
produced letters and public proceedings which demon- 
strated that the majority of that colony were in favor 
of it, Mr. Hewes, who had hitherto constantly voted 
against it, started. suddenly upright, and lifting up both 
his hands to Heaven, as if he had been in a trance, cried 
out, ' It is done ! and I will abide by it.' I would give 
more for a perfect painting of the terror and horror upon 
the faces of the old majority, at that critical moment, 
than for the best piece of Raphael. The question, how- 
ever, was eluded by an immediate motion for adjourn- 
ment. The struggle in Congress was long known abroad. 
Some members, who foresaw that the point would be 
carried, left the house and went home, to avoid voting 
in the affirmative or negative. Pennsylvania and New 

119 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Jersey recalled all their delegates who had voted against 
independence, and sent new ones expressly to vote for 
it. The last debate but one was the most copious and 
animated ; but the question was now evaded by a motion 
to postpone it to another day ; some members, however, 
declaring that, if the question should be now demanded, 
they should vote for it, but they wished for a day or two 
more to consider it. When that day arrived, some of 
the new members desired to hear the arguments for and 
against the measure. When these were summarily recapit- 
ulated, the question was put and carried. There were 
no yeas and nays in those times. A Committee was ap- 
pointed to draw a declaration ; when reported, it under- 
went abundance of criticism and alteration ; but, when 
finally accepted, all those members who had voted 
against independence, now declared they would sign and 
support it." 

The Journal for June iith*^ says: 

Resolved That a committee to prepare the Declaration consist of 
five members 

The members chosen M'' Jefferson, M^ J Adams *^, M"^ Frank- 
lin M^ Shearman & M^ R. R. Livingston ^7 

John Adams, in his Autobiography *^, tells us : " [J] Mr. 
Jefferson had been now about a year a member of Con- 
gress, but had attended his duty in the house a very small 
part of the time, and, when there, had never spoken in 
public. During the whole time I sat with him in Con- 
gress, I never heard him utter three sentences together. 
It will naturally be inquired how it happened that he was 

I20 



ITS HIS TORT 

appointed on a committee of such importance. There 
were more reasons than one. Mr. Jefferson had the 
reputation of a masterly pen ; he had been chosen a dele- 
gate in Virginia, in consequence of a very handsome 
public paper which he had written for the House of Bur- 
gesses . , . Another reason was, that Mr. Richard Henry 
Lee was not beloved *^ by the most of his colleagues from 
Virginia, and Mr. Jefferson was set up to rival and sup- 
plant him. This could be done only by the pen, for 
Mr. Jefferson could stand no conipetition with him or 
anyone else in elocution and public debate." " [Qy] 
Jefferson was chairman because he had most votes and 
he had most votes because We united in him, to the Ex- 
clusion of R. H. Lee in [or]der to keep out Harrison.'* 

In his letter of 1822 to Pickering, he says: "[Ms] You 
enquire ^^ why so young a man as Jefferson was placed at 
the head of the Committee for preparing a declaration of 
Independence? I answer, it was the Frankfort advice ^\ 
to place Virginia at the head of everything. M ■■ Rich- 
ard Henry Lee, might be gone to Virginia to his sick 
family, for ought I know, but that was not^^ the reason 
of M.*: Jefferson's appointment. There were three 
Committees appointed at the same time. One for the 
Declaration of Independence ; another for preparing 
Articles of Confederation ; and another for preparing a 
Treaty to be proposed to France. M' Lee was chosen 
for the Committee of confederation, and it was not 
thought convenient that the same person should be upon 
both. M"" Jefferson came into Congress in June 1775. 
and brought with him a reputation for literature, science, 
and a happy talent of com.position. Writings of his were 

121 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

handed about remarkable for the peculiar felicity of ex- 
pression. Though a silent member in Congress, he was 
so prompt, frank, explicit and decisive upon committees 
and in conversation, not even Sam* Adams was more 
so, that he soon seized upon my heart, and upon this 
occasion I gave him my vote and did all in my power to 
procure the votes of others. I think he had one more 
vote than any other, and that placed him at the head of 
the Committee. I had the next highest number and 
that placed me the second." 



Samuel Adams was c^^ years old ; Hancock, 39 ; R. 
H. Lee, 44; Harrison, about i^^ \ John Adams, 40; 
Jefferson^, ^3 ; FrankHn, 70; Sherman, 55 ; and R. R. 
Livingston, 29. 



122 



ITS HIS TORT 



V 

THE POSTPONEMENT 

THE consideration of the initial resolution of 
June 7th was postponed, on the loth, as seen, 
to July 1st. This postponement was made 
upon the motion of Edward Rutledge. Its purpose, 
Gerry writes^, to James Warren, June nth, was "to give 
the Assemblies of the Middle Colonies an opportunity 
to take off their restrictions and let their Delegates unite 
in the measure." Jefferson, in his noUs, as shown, is 
even more specific : 

It appearing in the course of these debates that the colonies of 

& South Carolina 3 

N. York 2, New Jersey, Pennsylvania 2, Delaware ■$£■ Maryland^ 
had not yet advanced to were not yet matured for falling off from 
the parent stem, but that they were fast advancing to that state, it 
was thought most prudent to wait a while for them . . . 



Curiously enough, the Provincial Congress of New 
Jersey had already been called (at Burlington) for the 
very day of the postponement. An insufficient number 
of Deputies attending, however, it adjourned to the 
morning of the nth, and thence to the afternoon. 

On the 1 2th was read the resolution* of the Conven- 
tion of Virginia of May 15th, forwarded by Pendleton. 
Sergeant^ and Cooper^, tv/o of the Delegates'^ to Con- 

123 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

gress, and John Hart, Abraham Clark and Dr. John 
Witherspoon — all of whom had been elected Deputies 
— were present. 

Three days later ^5 Sergeant writes (from Burlington), 
to John Adams : " [Qy] Jacta est illea. — We are pass- 
ing the Rubicon & our Delegates in Congress on the 
first of July will vote plump. — The Bearer is a staunch 
Whigg & will answer any Questions You may need to 
ask. I have been very busy here & have stole a Minute 
from Business to write this[.]" 

The election was held sometime after 3 o'clock on the 
afternoon of the 22d — Sergeant^, Cooper, Hart, Clark 
and Witherspoon still being present. Five new Dele- 
gates — Richard Stockton ^^ Clark ^''j Hart^^, Francis 
Hopkinson^^ and Witherspoon ^^ " — were elected. 

Sergeant writes, on the 24th, to Samuel Adams : " [SA] 
I have declined to be appointed anew to the Continental 
Congress for Reasons which I have no Room to explain 
(this being the only white Piece of Paper in Bristol) . . . 
I am confident that it is better that I stay in the Colony 
for the present than in the Continental Congress . . . 
The People of this Colony were quite in the dark as to 
the Sentiments of their Delegates until lately. — Our new 
ones I trust will not deceive us ; but lest they should I 
wish I could promptly learn their conduct whenever they 
may by any means be found tripping.*' 

Samuel Adams, in a letter to R. H. Lee, dated July 
15th, says^^ : "[A] All of them appear to be zealously 
attached to the American Cause — " 

The Delegates were empowered and directed, as shown 
by the Journal of Congress, " in the name of this colony 

124 



ITS HISTORT 

to join with the delegates of the other colonies ... in 
the most vigorous measures for supporting the just rights 
and liberties of America & if you shall judge it necessary 
or expedient for this purpose we impower you to join 
with them in declaring the united colonies independant 
of great Britain ". 

Six days later (the iSth), the Journal of Congress tells 
US5 " Francis Hopkinson ^^ Esquire one of the Delegates 
for New Jersey attended & produced the credentials of 
their appointment . . ." 

M:Kean^* (though it is possible — but not probable 
— that Rodney ^^ also was instrumental) seems to have 
assumed the brunt of the battle in Delaware. On June 
14th, he "delivered in at the Chair" in the House of 
Representatives, at Newcastle, a certified copy of the reso- 
lution^^ of Congress of the 15th of May; and, on the 
17th (evidently ^^), John Adams writes to Chase : " [QyCJ 
M^^Kean has returned from the Lower Counties with Full 
Powers. Their Instructions are in the same Words with 
the new ones ^^ to the Delegates of Pensilvania. — " 

Maryland too came into line, though more slowly ^^ 
On June nth — the day following the postponement 
— , Tilghman, Stone and Rogers''^ wrote, from Philadel- 
phia, to their Council of Safety, at Annapolis : " [Md] 
This postpone was made to give an opportunity to the 
Delegates from those Colonies, which had not as yet 
given Authority to adopt this decisive measure, to con- 
sult their constituents ; It will be necessary that the Con- 
vention of Maryland should meet as soon as possible to 

125 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

give the explicit sense of the Province on this point . . . 
We wish to have the fair and uninfluenced sense of 
the People we have the Honour to represent . . . and 
... it would be well if the Delegates to Convention 
were desired to endeavour to collect the opinion of 
the people at large in some manner or other previous 
to the meeting of Convention. We shall attend the 
Convention whenever it meets if it is thought proper 
we should do so. The approaching Harvest will per- 
haps render it very inconvenient for many Gentlemen 
to attend the Convention. This however must not be 
regarded when matters of such momentous Concern 
demand their deliberation . . . The question for post- 
poning the declaration of Independence was carried by 
seven Colonies against five : [.] " 

This letter — strangely enough — passed on the road 
one (dated the loth) from the Council, stating "[Md] 
we have resolved ^^ that a Convention be held at An- 
napolis on Thursday the 20*^ instant, at which time we 
shall be glad to see as many of you as can be spared from 
Congress." 

To the letter from the Council {received on the 14th), 
Stone and Rogers replied, on the 15th: "[Md] We 
wrote you a few days ago requesting a call of the Con- 
vention to deliberate upon matters of the last Impor- 
tance, and we are glad that an earlier meeting than we 
expected will afford an opportunity to our constituents 
to communicate to us the sense of the Province upon 
the very interesting subjects mentioned in our Letter. 
The session will be a very important one and we wish 
to attend, tho we know not whether it will be agreeable 

126 



ITS HIS TORT 

to our constituents to leave the Province unrepresented 
in Congress . . . We shall wait to hear from you and 
them upon this head, indeed we can't quit the Congress 
without Leave which will not be given here unless our 
attendance in Convention is desired. M' Tilghman left 
us yesterday, M' Paca ^^ is here." 

This reply and a second letter from the Council — 
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, chairman, William Hay- 
ward and Thomas B. Hands seeming to have been 
present — also passed on the road. The latter, dated 
Annapolis, June 14th, reads: "[Md] Your favour of 
the 11^^ inst we rec** at 10 °'Clock this morning — We 
have already complied with almost every thing you re- 
quest"^, and we wish we had time to collect the fair and 
uninfluenced sense of our people on the most important 
point of Independence before the meeting of the Con- 
vention ; but as the assembling of that body is already 
fixed on the 20^^ of this month, it will be impossible to 
make the necessary enquiry before that time. We pre- 
sume the first business of the Convention will be regu- 
lating the movement of the militia, and that if necessary 
in the mean time the several committees of observation 
may be directed fairly to collect the sense of the Prov- 
ince on the subject of Independence, and make report 
thereof to the Convention. Any mode their Represent- 
atives may think proper to point out would be better 
relished by the people, than for us to put them in a 
violent ferment in a way that might not be approved 
of — *tis a point of great magnitude, and we think it's 
best, the shortness of the time considered, to leave it 
untouched until the meeting of the Convention on 

127 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

thursday next. M' Paca no doubt is with you before 
now. Mess" Johnson ^^ and Goldsborough ^^ still with 
their families we hear — we wish to have you all down 
when the grand question is decided, we leave it, how- 
ever to yourselves to judge whether you can be spared 
from Congress, and hope whatever is done will be gen- 
erally agreed to/' 

On the day (June nth) on which Tilghman, Stone 
and Rogers wrote their letter, though doubtless later 
in the day ^^, Chase and Charles Carroll of Carrollton 
appeared in Congress. They, with Franklin ^, had 
been appointed ^ commissioners to Canada and (they) 
had just returned. 

Three days later (Friday, the 14th), as we have seen, 
a letter from the Council of Safety arrived, stating that 
the 20th had been set for a meeting of the Convention, 
and Tilghman set out for Maryland. 

Probably on the same day. Chase penned the follow- 
ing note^^ to John Adams: " [Qy] M' Chase will ex- 
cuse the late Neglects and Inattention of Mf John 
Adams to him, upon the express Condition, that in 
future he constantly communicate to M' Chase every 
Matter relative to persons or Things. M' Chase flatters 
himself with seeing Ml; Adams on Monday or Tuesday 
fortnight with the Voice of Maryland in favor of Inde- 
pendance and a foreign Alliance, which are, in M' Chases 
Opinion, the only and best Measures to preserve the 
Liberties of America — direct to Annapolis ^^ [.] " 

Adams in his reply — dated the 14th ^, though we 
think that it was not sent nor the latter part at least of 
it written until the 17th ^^ — says : '' [QyC] M' Bedford 

128 



ITS HISTORT 

put into my Hand this Moment a Card from you, con- 
taining a Reprehension for the past, and a Requisition 
for the Time to come ... I have no Objection to 
writing you Facts, but I would not medelle with Char- 
acters, for the World . . . M' Adams ever was and ever 
will be glad to see M' Chase, but M' Chase never was 
nor will be more welcome than, if he should come next 
Monday or Tuesday fortnight with the Voice of Mary- 
land in Favour of Independence . . . M'^Kean has re- 
turned from the Lower Counties with full Powers — 
Their Instructions are in the same Words with the new 
ones to the Delegates of Pensilvama. — New Jersey, 
have dethroned [Governor] Franklyn, and in a Letter ^^ 
which is just come to my Hand from Indisputable Au- 
thority, I am told that the Delegates from that Colony, 
will ' vote plump.' — Maryland, now stands alone. I 
presume she will soon join Company — if not she must 
be left alone. — " 

Before this letter was received, as we shall see, and 
upon the day appointed (the 20th), the Convention 
convened, at Annapolis. 

On the same day, it " Resolved, That the President 
, . . inform the Deputies ... in Congress that their 
attendance in Convention is desired ; and that they move 
Congress for permission to attend here, but that they do 
not leave the Congress without such permission, and with- 
out first having obtained an order that the consideration 
of the questions of Independence . . . shall be postponed 
until Deputies from this Province can attend Congress, 
which shall be as soon as possible." 

Tilghman, Chase, Goldsborough ^^ and Johnson were 
9 129 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

already present ^^ In the Convention when this resolution 
was adopted. Carroll appeared on the 24th, 

On the afternoon of the 11st, Chase writes (from An- 
napolis) to John Adams : " [Qy] To remind our friends 
of their Inattention^ and Neglect must give pain. I am 
almost angry with you. — if you are inclined to oblige or 
please Me write constantly. — I found my Lady very 
ill, but have the pleasure to say she is better, tho* still 
very low and weak ... 1 am almost resolved not to 
inform You, that a general Dissatisfaction prevails here 
with our Convention, read the papers, & be assured 
Frederick^ speaks the Sense of many Counties. I have 
not been idle. I have appealed in Writing to the People. 
County after County is instructing [.]" 

Adams, on the 24th, replies: "[QyC] I received 
your obliging Favour of the 21^ this Morning, and I 
thank you for it. — dont be angry with me. I hope I 
shall attone for past Sins of omission soon. The Ex- 
press which you mention brought in such contradictory 
accounts, that I did not think it worth while to write to 
you upon it ... a Resolution of your convention was 
read in Congress this Morning, and the Question was 
put whether your Delegates [Paca, Stone and Rogers ^] 
should have leave to go home, and whether those great 
Questions should be postponed, beyond the first of July. 
— The Determination was in the Negative. — We should 
have been happy to have obliged your Convention and 
your Delegates. — But it is now become public ^^, in the 
Colonies that these Questions are to be brought on the 
first of July. — The Lower Counties have instructed 
their Members, as the Assembly of Pensilvania have. — 

130 



ITS HISTORT 

Jersey has chosen five new Members all independent 
Souls, and instructed them to vote on the first of July 
for Independence. There is a Conference of Committees 
from every County in Pensilvania, now sitting in this 
City,, who yesterday voted that the Delegates for this 
Colony ought on the first of July to vote for Independ- 
ence. — This Vote was not only unanimous, but I am 
told by one of them, that all the Members declared 
seriatim that this was their Opinion, and the Opinion of 
the several Counties and Towns they represented, and 
many of them produced Instructions from their Con- 
stituents to vote for that Measure. — You see therefore 
that there is such a universal Expectation that the great 
Question will be decided the first of July, and it has been 
already so often postponed, that to postpone it again 
would hazard Convulsions, and dangerous Conspiracies. 
— It must then come on and be decided — I hope that 
before Monday Morning next, we shall receive from 
Maryland, Instructions to do right." 

Four days later (Friday, the 28th), — (doubtless ^^) fol- 
lowing the receipt by Chase of this letter — the Con- 
vention ^^ resolved ^^ " That the instructions given by the 
Convention of December last (and renewed by the Con- 
vention in May^) ... be recalled, and the restrictions 
therein contained be removed ; that the Deputies . . . 
be authorized and empowered to concur with the other 
United Colonies, or a majority of them, in declaring the 
United Colonies free and independent States . . ." 

Chase, in a note*^ to John Adams, written that evening 
at 9 o'clock, says : " [Qy] I thank You for your two 
Letters of the 17*!* & 24*^ Inst: — They were handed 

131 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

to Me in Convention — I shall offer no other Apology 
for Concluding, than that I am this Moment from the 
House to procure an Express to follow the Post with an 
Unan: Vote of our Convention for Independence e! e* — 
See the glorious Effects of County Instructions*^*^, — 
our people ** have fire if not smothered . . /* 

This " Unan : Vote of our Convention for Independ- 
ence''^ as Chase calls it, was, as shown by the Journal, 
"laid before Congress & read" on the morning of July 
1st. It was a good augury of the vote to be taken on 
the initial resolution in the committee of the whole on 
that day and in Congress on the next. 



Jefferson does not speak of New Hampshire, and 
rightly. 

Her Delegates, however, had early *^ seen the trend of 
events and were none the less desirous of knowing the 
" sense " of the people. On May 28th — the day after the 
resolution of the Convention of Virginia of the 15th was 
presented to Congress — , Whipple*^ writes to Meshech 
Weare : " [BT] The Convention of Virginia have in- 
structed their Delegates, to use their endeavors that 
Congress should declare the Colonies a free independent 
State — North Carolina have signified the same desire — 
South Carolina and Georgia will readily accede, and we 
shall be glad to know the opinion of our Colony on this 
subject" ; and, on June 6th — the day before the intro- 
duction of the initial resolution by R. H. Lee — , Bart- 
lett**^ writes to Folsom : " [N] The affair of declaring 
these Colonies Independant States and absolved from all 
allegiance to the Crown of Brittain must soon be Decided 

132 



ITS HIS TORT 

whatever may be the opinion of the Delegates*^ of New 
hampshire on that matter they think it their duty to act 
agreable to the minds of their Constituents and in an 
affair of that Magnitude Desire the ExpHcit Directions 
of the Legislature of the Colony and that it may be 
forwarded to us as soon as possible [.]" 

Four days later — the day of the postponement — , 
Bartlett writes, to Langdon ^^ : " [BT] . . . you have seen 
the Virginia Resolves Concerning Independence — I wish 
our Colony would give us Instructions on that head, for 
whatever may be our private opinions, instructions from 
the Colony either regulating or only authorizing us to 
vote in favor of it, if we should think it for the best 
would Carry great weight with it " ; and, on the next day, 
both Whipple and Bartlett write to the same end. 

The House of Representatives, sitting at Exeter, on 
June nth, — following doubtless ^*^ the receipt of the first 
letter — accordingly "[NH] Voted, That Samuel Cutts, 
Timothy Walker and John Dudley Esq" be a Com- 
mittee of this house to join a Committee of the Hon^^® 
Board to make a Dra't of a Declaration of this General 
Assembly for Independence . . ." 

On the same day, this "[NH] Vote . . . [was] bro't 
up, read & Concurred [in by the Council — Weare, 
President, Matthew Thornton, Ebenezer Thompson, 
John Wentworth, Wyseman Clagett, Jonathan Blan- 
chard, Samuel Ashley, Benjamin Giles, John Hurd and 
Folsom doubtless being present] with this Amendment, 
That [the committee prepare a draft, setting forth] the 
sentiments & opinion of the Council & Assembly . . . 
relative to the United Colonies forming themselves into 

133 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Independent States in order that when passed the same 
may be transmitted to our Delegates at the Continental 
Congress, and that Messrs. Hurd, Wyseman Clagett & 
the Sec^ [Thompson] be added to the Committee/' 

On the 14th, Bartlett's letter of the 6th arrived ; 
and, on the 15th, "[NH] The Committee of both 
Houses . . . made Report as on file — which report 
being read and considered. Voted Unanimously, That 
the Report of said Committee be received and accepted, 
and that the Dra*t by them bro't in be sent to our Dele- 
gates at the Continental Congress forthwith, as the sence 
of this House.*' 

Folsom, in acknowledging, on the 15th, Bartlett's 
letter (of the 6th), says ; " [N] I yesterday received 
yours of the 6*.^ instant ... I doubt not you will be 
pleased to hear that a prety General harmony in the 
Grand American Cause Prevails here — the vote for 
independency you will see is unanim' in both Houses 
. . . I wish you the divine hissing at the Congress — 
I doubt not if we remain firm & united we shall under 
god disappoint the Sanguenary designs of ouer Ene- 
mies — " 

The instructions were " [NH] to join with the other 
Colonies in declaring The Thirteen United Colonies, A 
FREE & INDEPENDENT STATE . . . "^^ 

Massachusetts also was, of course, in no sense doubt- 
ful. 

We have already learned somewhat of the views of 
three of her Delegates — of Gerry and of the "famous 
Samuel and John Adams '\ 

134 



ITS HISTORT 

Hancock's position is less clear. 

" Laco " (generally admitted to be Stephen Higgin- 
son) ~ speaking of the part he " acted as a member of 
Congress ; and how far he contributed to effect our na- 
tional independence " — thus expresses himself in The 
Massachusetts Centinel {C) of February 21, 1789 : " Mr. 
H. was happy in having for his colleagues men . . . who 
were resolved, for political purposes, to support him and 
make him conspicuous. They accordingly obtained his 
appointment to the chair of Congress. But, being ele- 
vated to the highest point, through their agency, he 
thought them no longer necessary to his importance ; 
and from the vanity and caprice, inherent in his nature, 
he attached himself to the tories, who were then in Con- 
gress. These men had perceived his love of flattery . . . 
In all questions for decisive measures against Britain, he 
hung back ; and very much contributed to obstruct the 
Declaration of Independence . . . When the important 
hour arrived, that was to give birth to our country, as a 
nation — when the pulse of his colleagues, as well as of 
the majority of Congress, and of the people at large, beat 
high for independence, and it was found the important 
question could no longer be put off, Mr. H. then gave a 
vote in favour of the measure, and put his official signa- 
ture to that memorable act . . . With these facts in our 
mind, which are very notorious, and which Mr. S. A. 
and others can at any time verify, we naturally wonder, 
and smile at the extraordinary merit Mr. H. has assumed 
to himself, from the publication of that Declaration, 
with his name as President. The Secretary of Congress 
has as good a title to superiour respect, for having certi- 

135 



r DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

fied the copy, as Mr. H. has for having signed the ori- 
ginal — they were both mere official, mechanical acts^. 
without any responsibility ; such as the most timid man 
upon the continent, in their situations, would not have 
hesitated to perform. Had Mr. H. been a zealous pro- 
moter of the measure, he would then have been entitled 
to an equal share of veneration with those of his col- 
leagues, who were advocates for it; but, having been 
opposed to it until it became inevitable, and reluctantly 
drawn in with his vote in its favour, at the last moment, 
we ought to resent his vanity and assurance, in claiming 
our first esteem and respect on that occasion." 

Indeed, John Adams, in his Autobiography^'^yS?iys that, 
on March 15th, for the first time, Harrison was made 
chairman of the committee of the whole; that, during 
the succeeding weeks, the same honor was often con- 
ferred upon him ; and that " [J] Mr. Hancock, had 
hitherto nominated Governor Ward^^ of Rhode Island, 
to that conspicuous position. Mr. Harrison had courted 
Mr. Hancock, and Mr. Hancock had courted Mr. 
Duane, Mr. Dickinson, and their party, and leaned so 
partially in their favor, that Mr. Samuel Adams had 
become very bitter against Mr. Hancock, and spoke of 
him with great asperity in private circles ; and this alien- 
ation between them continued from this time till the year 
1789, thirteen years, when they were again reconciled. 
Governor Ward was become extremely obnoxious to 
Mr. Hancock's party, by his zealous attachment to Mr. 
Samuel Adams and Mr. Richard Henry Lee." 

Whatever may have been Hancock's views, and es- 
pecially before R. H. Lee offered the resolution, we 

136 



ITS HISTORT 

know, however ^, that, on June nth, Hancock writes, to 
Washington : " We have been two days in a Committee 
of the whole, deliberating on three ^^ capital matters, the 
most important in their nature of any that have yet been 
before us, and have sat till seven oclock in the evening 
each day " ; on July ist, also to Washington : "[S] . . . 
the Congress . . . have by a particular appointm! had 
under consideration a momentuous matter this day . . . 
My next will Inform you I hope of some very decisive 
measures '* ; and, on July 6th, to the same patriot : "[S] 
The Congress, for some Time past, have had their At- 
tention occupied by one of the most interesting and im- 
portant Subjects that could possibly come before them ; 
or any other Assembly of Men. Altho it is not possible 
to foresee the Consequences of Human Actions, yet it is 
nevertheless a Duty we owe ourselves and Posterity, in 
all our public Counsels, to decide in the best Manner we 
are able, and to leave the Event to that Being who con- 
trouls both Causes and Events to bring about his own 
Determination. Impressed with this Sentiment, and at 
the same Time fully convinced, that our Affairs may take 
a more favourable Turn, the Congress have judged it 
necessary to dissolve the Connection between Great 
Britain and the American Colonies, and to declare them 
free & independent States ; as you will perceive by the 
enclosed Declaration, which I am directed to transmit to 
you, and to request you will have it proclaimed at the Head 
of the Army in the Way, you shall think most proper.'* 



With what interest must the Delegates in Philadelphia 
have watched for the news from the doubtful Colonies ! 

137 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

We get some idea of the feeling there from ^ two 
letters of Whipple, dated June 17th and 24th: " [BT] 
This day fortnight I expect the grand question will be 
determined in Congress, that being the day assigned to 
receive the report of a Committee who are preparing a 
Declaration. — there is a great change here since my 
arrival [February 28th] as there was in New Hampshire 
between the time that the powder was taken from the 
fort and the battle of Bunker Hill . . . Affairs go on 
bravely as you '11 see by the papers." " [BT] The middle 
Colonies are getting in a good way. Next Monday 
being the first of July^ the grand question is to be de- 
bated and I believe determined unanimously. May God 
unite our hearts in all things that tend to the well being 
of the rising Empire." 

The next day (the 25th), Gerry writes to James War- 
ren : " I think we are in a fair way to a speedy Declara- 
tion of Independency . . . New-Jersey has appointed 
five new Delegates, and instructed them to vote in favour 
of the question ; and it appears to me that there is not a 
doubt of any Colony on the continent, except New-York 
and Maryland. These will not impede us a moment. I 
do not afiirm that either of these is of the neuter gender ; 
but on the other hand am persuaded the people are in 
favour of a total and final separation, and will support 
the measure, even if the Conventions and Delegates 
. . . vote against it. Since my first arrival in this city 
[February 9th] the New-England Delegates have been 
in a continual war with the advocates of Proprietary 
interests in Congress and this Colony [Pennsylvania]. 
These are they who are most in the way of the measures 



ITS HISTORY 

we have proposed ; but I think the contest is pretty 
nearly at an end, and am persuaded that the people of 
this and the middle Colonies have a clearer view of their 
interests, and will use their endeavours to eradicate the 
Ministerial influence of Governours, Proprietors, and 
Jacobites . . ." 

On the 28th5 Penn, writing to Samuel Johnston, 
says : " [Gz] I arrived here several days ago in good 
health & found Mr Hewes well . . . The first day of 
July will be made remarcable then the question rela- 
tive to Independance will be agitated and there is no 
doubt but a total seperation from Britain will take place 
this Province [Pennsylvania] is for it indeed so are 
all^^ except Maryland & her people are coming over' 
fast . . r 

In another letter of the 28th, written at 1 1 o'clock 
at night, he says: "[NC] I wish things may answer 
our expectation after we are independant. 1 fear most 
people are too sanguine relative to commerce ; however 
it is a measure our enemies have forced upon us. I 
don't doubt but we shall have spirit enough to act like 
men. Indeed, it could no longer be delayed." 

Hewes, on the same day, writes to James Iredell : 
"[I] On Monday the great question of independency 
. . . will come on. It will be carried, I expect, by a 
great majority, and then, I suppose we shall take upon 
us a new name." 

On the 29th ^^, Edward Rutledge writes to Jay: "[Z] 
I write this for the express Purpose of requesting that if 
possible you will give your attendance in Congress on 
Monday next ... I am sincerely convinced that . . . 

139 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

[your presence] will be absolutely necessary in this City 
during the whole of the ensuing Week. — A Declaration 
of Independence, the Form of a Confederation of these 
Colonies, and a Scheme for a treaty with foreign Powers 
will be laid before the House on Monday. Whether 
we shall be able effectually to oppose the first . . . will 
depend in a great measure upon the exertions of the . . . 
sensible part of the Members. I trust you will con- 
tribute in a considerable degree to effect the Business 
and therefore I wish you to be with us. Recollect the 
manner in which your Colony is at this time represented. 
Clinton has Abilities but is silent in general and wants 
(when he does speak) that Influence to which he is en- 
titled. Floyd, Wisner, Lewis and Alsop tho' good men, 
never quit their chairs. You must know the Importance 
of these Questions too well not to wish to [be] present 
whilst they are debating and therefore I shall say no 
more upon the Subject ... If you can't come let me 
hear^^ from you by the Return of the Post." 



140 



ITS HISTORT 



VI 

DRAFTING THE DECLARATION 

JOHN ADAMS, in his Autobiography, gives the 
following account (written, according to Charles 
Francis Adams, in 1805) of the drafting of the 
Declaration : 

[Qy] '^^^ Committee had several Meetings, in which were 
proposed the articles of which the Declaration was to consist, 
and minutes made of them. The Committee then appointed 
M"^ Jefferson and me, to draw them up in form, and cloath them 
in proper Dress. The Sub Committee met, and considered the 
Minutes, making such Observations on them as then occurred : 
when M"" Jefferson desired me to take them to my lodgings and 
make the Draught. This I declined and gave several reasons 
for declining i that he was a Virginian and I a Massachusetten- 
sian. 2. that he was a Southern Man and I a northern one. 
3. That I had been so obnoxious for my early and constant Zeal 
in promoting the Measure, that any draught of mine, would 
undergo a more severe Scrutiny and Criticism in Congress, 
than one of his composition. 4*'^3>' and lastly and that would be 
reason enough if there were no other, I had a great opinion of 
the Elegance of his pen, and none at all of my own. I there- 
fore insisted that no hesitation should be made on his part. He 
accordingly took the Minutes and in a day or two produced to 
me his Draught. Whether I made or suggested any corrections 
I remember not. The Report was made to the Committee of 
five, by them examined, but whether altered or corrected in any 

141 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

thing I cannot recollect. But in Substance at least it was reported 
to Congress where, after a Severe Criticism, and Striking out 
several of the most oratorical Paragraphs it was adopted on the 
fourth of July 1776, and published to the World. 

A similar account is found in his letter of 1822 to 
Pickering : ^ 

[Ms] The Committee met, discussed the subject, and then 
appointed M.I Jefferson & me to make the draught; I suppose, 
because we were the two highest on the list. The Sub-Committee 
met ; Jefferson proposed to me to make the draught, I said I will 
not; You shall do it. Oh No! Why will you not? You 
ought to do it. I will not. Why ? Reasons enough. What 
can be your reasons ? Reason if.^ You are a Virginian and 
Virginia ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason 2*! 
I am obnoxious, suspected and unpopular; You are very much 
otherwise. Reason 3^ You can write ten times better than I 
can. " Well," said Jefferson, " if you are decided I will do as 
well as I can." Very well, when you have drawn it up we will 
have a meeting. A meeting we accordingly had and conn'd the 
paper over. I was delighted with its high tone, and the flights 
of Oratory with which it abounded, especially that concerning 
Negro Slavery, which though I knew his Southern Bretheren 
would never suffer to pass in Congress, I certainly never would, 
oppose. There were other expressions, which I would not have 
inserted had I drawn it up ; particularly that which called the 
King a Tyrant. I thought this too personal, for I never believed 
George to be a tyrant in disposition and in nature : I always 
believed him to be deceived by his Courtiers on both sides the 
Atlantic, and in his Official capacity only. Cruel. 

I thought the expression too passionate and too much like 
scolding for so grave and solemn a document ; but as Franklin 
and Sherman were to inspect it afterwards, I thought it would 

142 



ITS HISTORT 

not become me to strike it out. I consented to report it and do 
not now remember that I made or suggested a single alteration. 
We reported it to the committee of Five. It was read and I do 
not remember that Franklin or Sherman criticized anything. We 
were all in haste ; Congress was impatient and the Instrument 
was reported, I believe in Jefferson's hand writing as he first drew 
it ... As you justly observe 2, there is not an idea in it, but 
what had been hackney'd in Congress for two years before. The 
substance of it is contained in the Declaration of rights" and the 
violation of those rights, in the Journal of Congress in 1774.^ 
Indeed, the essence of it is contained in a pamphlet, voted and 
printed by the Town of Boston before the first Congress met, 
composed by James Otis, as I suppose — in one of his lucid 
intervals, and pruned and polished by Sam- Adams — 

This letter was quoted by Pickering in the course of 
some remarks made at Salem on the succeeding national 
anniversary. 

It brought forth immediately, August 30th (1823), a 
letter from Jefferson, to Madison, in which Jefferson 
gave an account quite different. He says : 

[S ;P] You have doubtless seen Timothy Pickering's 4^!" of 
July observations on the Declaration of Independance. if his 
principles and prejudices personal and political, gave us no reason 
to doubt whether he had truly quoted the information he alledges 
to have received from M.\ Adams, I should then say that, in some of 
the particulars, rnr Adams's memory has led him into unquestion- 
able error, at the age of 88 and 47. years after the transactions 
of Independance, this is not wonderful.* nor should I, at the age 
of 80, on the small advantage of that difference only, venture to 
oppose my memory to his, were it not supported by written notes, 
taken by myself at the moment and on the spot, he says ' the 

^43 



"-■h 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

committee (of 5. to wit, D"^ Franklin, Sherman, Livingston and 
ourselves) met, discussed the subject, and then appointed him 
and myself to make the draught : that we, as a subcommittee 
met, & after the urgencies of each on the other, I consented to 
undertake the task ; that the draught being made, we, the sub- 
committee, met, & conned the paper over, and he does not re- 
member that he made or suggested a single alteration/ now 
these details are quite incorrect, the committee of 5. met, no 
such thing as a subcommittee was proposed, but they unani- 
mously 5 pressed on myself alone to undertake the draught. I 
consented ; I drew it ; but before I reported it to the committee, 
I communicated it separately^ to T)\ Franklin^ and riir Adams 
requesting their corrections ; because they were the two members 
of whose judgments and amendments I wished most to have the 
benefit before presenting it to the Committee ; and you have 
seen the original paper ^ now^ in my hands, with the correc- 
tions ^^ of Doctor Franklin and rnr Adams interlined in their 
own handwritings. 

their 

= alterations were two or three only, and merely verbal. I 
then 1^ wrote a fair copy ^^, reported it to the Committee, and 
from them, unaltered to Congress, this personal communication 
and consultation with rnr Adams he has misremembered into the 
meetings of a sub-committee. Pickering's observations, and rnr 
Adams's in addition, ' that it contained no new ideas, that it is 
a common place compilation, it's sentiments hacknied in Con- 
gress for two years before, and it's essence contained in Otis's 
pamphlet,' may all be true, of that I am not to be the judge. 
Rich^ H. Lee charged it as copied from Locke's treatise on gov- 
ernment.^^ Otis's pamphlet I never saw, & whether I had 
gathered my ideas from reading or reflection I do not know. I 
know only that I turned to neither book or pamphlet while 
writing it.^* I did not consider it as any part of my charge to 
invent new ideas altogether & to offer no sentiment which had 

144 



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Jefferson's '* Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence, now In the Library of the Depar 
ose judgments and amendments I wislied most Co have the benefit before presenting it to t \^^ Commirr 
I Sherman and R. R. Livingston were the other members, was chosen^ June I ith j and 
son indicated thereon the amendments made by Congress. 



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ic.ngs_ j,hn Adams made a copy, which is now ac the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston. The committee of five, of 
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ITS HISTORT 

ever been expressed before, had rnr Adams been so restrained. 
Congress would have lost the benefit of his bold and impressive 
advocations of the rights of revolution, for no man's confident 
& fervid addresses, more than rnr Adams's encoraged and sup- 
ported us thro' the difficulties surrounding us, which, like the 
ceaseless action of gravity, weighed on us by night and by day. 
yet, on the same ground, we may ask what of these elevated 
thoughts was new, or can be affirmed never before to have entered 
the conceptions of man ? Whether also the sentiments of inde- 

which make so great a portion of the instrument 

pendance, and the reasons for declaring it^had been hacknied in 
Congress for two years before the 4^!* of July 76. or this dictum 
also of rnr Adams be another slip of memory, let history say. 
this however I will say for rnr Adams, that he supported the 
declaration with zeal & ability, fighting fearlessly for every word 
of it. as to myself, I thought it a duty to be, on that occasion, 
a passive auditor of the opinions of others, more impartial judges 
than I could be, of it's merits or demerits, during the debate I 
was sitting by Dr Franklin, and he observed that I was writhing 
a little under the acrimonious criticisms on some of it's parts ; 
and it was on that occasion that, by way of comfort, he told me 
the story 1^ of John Thompson, the Hatter, and his new sign. 
Timothy thinks the instrument the better for having a fourth 
of it expunged, he would have thought it still better had the 
other three fourths gone out also, all but the single sentiment 
(the only one he approves) which recommends friendship to his 
dear England, whenever she is willing to be at peace with us. 
his insinuations are that altho' ' the high tone of the instrument 

6 

was in union with the warm feelings of the times, this sentiment 
of habitual friendship to England should never be forgotten, and 
that the duties it enjoins should especially be borne in mind on 
every celebration of this anniversary.' in other words, that the 
Declaration, as being a libel on the government of England, com- 
posed in times of passion, should now be buried in utter oblivion 
10 145 



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..^.-.-i-..Oe..» _ 



ITS HISTORT 

ever been expressed before, had mr Adams been so restrained. 
Congress would have lost the benefit of his bold and impressive 
advocations of the rights of revolution, for no man's confident 
& fervid addresses, more than rnr Adams's encoraged and sup- 
ported us thro' the difficulties surrounding us, which, like the 
ceaseless action of gravity, weighed on us by night and by day. 
yet, on the same ground, we may ask what of these elevated 
thoughts was new, or can be affirmed never before to have entered 
the conceptions of man ? Whether also the sentiments of inde- 

which make so great a portion of the instrument 

pendance, and the reasons for declaring it^had been hacknied in 
Congress for two years before the 4'!^ of July 76. or this dictum 
also of rnr Adams be another slip of memory, let history say. 
this however I will say for mr Adams, that he supported the 
declaration with zeal & ability, fighting fearlessly for every word 
of it. as to myself, I thought it a duty to be, on that occasion, 
a passive auditor of the opinions of others, more impartial judges 
than I could be, of it's merits or demerits, during the debate I 
was sitting by Df Franklin, and he observed that I was writhing 
a little under the acrimonious criticisms on some of it's parts ; 
and k was on that occasion that, by way of comfort, he told me 
the story ^^ of John Thompson, the Hatter, and his new sign. 
Timothy thinks the instrument the better for having a fourth 
of it expunged, he would have thought it still better had the 
other three fourths gone out also, all but the single sentiment 
(the only one he approves) which recommends friendship to his 
dear England, whenever she is willing to be at peace with us. 
his insinuations are that altho' 'the high tone of the instrument 

s 

was in union with the warm feelings of the times, this sentiment 
of habitual friendship to England should never be forgotten, and 
that the duties it enjoins should especially be borne in mind on 
every celebration of this anniversary.' in other words, that the 
Declaration, as being a libel on the government of England, com- 
posed in times of passion, should now be buried in utter oblivion 
10 145 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

fe«t to spare the feelings of our English friends and Angloman fel- 
low citizens, but it is not to wound them that we wish to keep 
it in mind; but to cherish the principles of the instrument in the 
bosoms of our own citizens ; and it is a heavenly comfort to see 
that these principles are yet so strongly felt as to render a circum- 
stance so trifling as this little lapse of memory of mr Adams 
worthy of being solemnly announced and supported at an anni- 
versary assemblage of the nation on it's birthday. In opposition 
however to nir Pickering, I pray God that these principles may 
be eternal . . . 

The " written notes^ taken by myself at the moment 
and on the spot" of which he speaks say merely: 

the committee for drawing the declaration of Independance de- 
do 
sired me to prepare it. I did so it was accordingly done, and 

being approved by them, I reported it to the house . . . 



It seems that, at one time, it was believed that the 
recital of wrongs in the Declaration was not JefFerson*s 
composition — arising from the facts that this portion 
of the instrument was almost identical with similar 
recitals in the preamble to the Constitution of Virginia 
and that, when the Constitution was framed, Jefferson 
was not in Virginia. 

The matter has since been cleared up, however ; and 
it appears that both were composed by Jefferson — the 
recitals in the preamble to the Constitution first. 

These are the facts : ^^ 

Certainly on May 27th, the resolutions of the Conven- 
tion of Virginia of May 15th were laid before Congress, 
we believe by Nelson. 

146 



ITS HISTORT 

JeiFerson, who was already ^^ eager " to have his voice 
in" the "great questions of the session" and who 
thus learned of the action of the Convention, was in- 
spired ^^ to draft a plan for the new government (of Vir- 
ginia), and this (now in the New York Public Library, 
Lenox) he gave to Wythe (who was present in Congress 
on June 8th or loth or on both days, we know, and who 
departed probably on the 13th) to lay before that body. 

Meanwhile, as shown by a letter, dated Williamsburg, 
June 15th, from William Fleming, to Jefferson: " [S] 
The progress of the business in the convention is, ac- 
cording to the custom, but slow. — The Declaration of 
rights which is to serve as the basis of a new government, 
you will see in the news papers; the form or constitution 
of which is yet in embryo . . ." 

Indeed, at 3 o'clock on the afternoon of the 22d, 
Fleming wrote, again to Jefferson from the same place : 
" [S] I being informed that the post is to set out in an 
hour, have just left the committee appointed to prepare 
a form of governm^ to give you a summary of their pro- 
ceeding. — The inclos'd, printed, plan was drawn by 
coL G. Mason and by him laid before the committee. 
They proceeded to examine it clause by clause, and have 
made such alterations as you will observe by examining 
the printed copy and the manuscript together ; tho* I 
am fearful you will not readily understand them, having 
made my notes in a hurry at the Table, as the altera- 
tions were made. I left the committee debating on 
some amendments proposed to the last clause, which 
they have probably finished, as the bell, for the meet- 
ing of the house, is now ringing. This business has 

147 



be<:laration of independence 

already taken up about a fortnights time, I mean in 
Committee. — '* 

When this letter was written, Wythe evidently had 
not yet arrived. He was in attendance upon the Con- 
vention certainly as early as June 29th, however ; and, 
on July 27th, he himself writes, from Williamsburg to 
Jefferson : " [S] When I came here the plan of gov- 
ernment had been committed to the whole house. To 
those who had the chief hand in forming it the one you 
put into my hands was shewn. Two or three parts 
of this were, with little alteration, inserted in that: but 
such was the impatience of sitting long enough to discuss 
several important points in which they differ, and so 
many other matters were necessarily to be despatched 
before the adjournment that I was persuaded the revi- 
sion of a subject the members seemed tired of would at 
that time have been unsuccessfully proposed." 

We have also a letter from Pendleton to Jefferson, 
dated July 2 2d, which says : " [S] I expected you had 
in the Preamble to our form of Government, exhausted 
the Subject of complaint ag! Geo. 3I & was at a loss to 
discover what the Congress would do for one to their 
Declaration of Independance without copying, but find 
you have acquitted your selves very well on that score ; 
We are now engaged beyond the Power of withdrawing, 
and I think cannot fail of success in happiness, if we do 
not defeat our selves by intrigue & Canvassing to be 
uppermost in Offices of Power & Lucre. I fancy there 
was much of this in our last Convention, but not being 
of the party or in the Jurat, I cannot speak of it w^!" cer- 
tainty, but am not otherwise able to account for the 

148 



ITS HISTORT 

unmerited, cruel degredation ^^ of my friend Col? Har- 
rison, who in my Opinion yields to no member of the 
Congress in point of Judgment or Integrity, unless he 
is strangely altered since I left them ... As to my 
friend Braxton they have been ever at him, and whatever 
his own sentiments & conduct may have been, his con- 
nections furnished a plausible foundation for Opposition, 
and I was not surprised when he was left out ... If 
Col? Harrison is not come away, tell him I expected he 
would be ^^, or should have wrote him ; I hope to see 
him on his return [.] '* 



" [V] The place of writing the Declaration ", says 
Watson, " has been differently^^ stated." 

Indeed, as early as September 8, 1825, Dr. James 
Mease of Philadelphia wrote to Jefferson himself and 
inquired " [S] in which house, and in which room of 
the house, you composed it. If a private house, the 
name of the person who kept it at the time would be 
acceptable.*' 

Jefferson, who was then at Monticello, replied, on the 
i6th22: 

23 at the time ^* of writing that instrument I lodged in the 
house of a mr Graaf, a new brick house ^^ 3. stories high of 
which I rented the 2^ floor consisting of a parlour and bed room 
ready furnished, in that parlour I wrote habitually and in it wrote 

proofs 

this paper particularly, so far I state from written papef=a in my 

the following addn. follov y i Bg are b«* a too 

possession, th other specifns i — can giv - g -^from^memory^much 

much 

decayed to be relied on with^confidence. tho proprietor Gra - the 
proprietor Graaf was a young man, son of a German, & then 

149 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

newly married. I think he was a bricklayer, and that his house 
was on the S. side of Market street, probably between 7^!" & 

or perhaps higher 

626^''/^ and if not then the only house on that part of the street, 

near it 

I am sure there were few others '^'^ yet built^. if there be extant 
a Directory of that year it will aocGrtain probably lead to a 
recognition of the identical house, for the name of the owner 
may be relied on, while i^ I may misremember the particular 

location. I have some idea, but very faint that it was a corner house, but 

^GtroGt. •f-^i**^ no Other recollection throwing any light on 

the question, or worth communication . . . 

28 P.S. further reflection leads me to think more strongly that 

it might be the S.E. corner house of it's square, fronting 

Eastwardly. 

This reply was corrected ^^, four days later, by the 
following : 

In the P.S. of my letter of the 16^? I made the mistake of 

if my conjecture be right & 

writing S.E. instead of N.E. it was the N.E. corner house ^ be 
pleased so to correct it. 

Again, on October 30th, he writes : 

[P] Your letter of September 8. enquiring after the house and 
room in which the Declaration of independance was written has 
excited my curiosity to know whether my recollections were such 
as to enable you to find out the house. 

Mease answers, November 4th : " [S] I duly re- 
ceived the three letters with which you favoured me, on 
the subject of the house in which you wrote the declara- 
tion of Independance . . . Upon reference to the sons 
of your landlord, I find that the house in which you 
resided in 1776, is at the South West Corner of Market 

150 



ITS HISTORT 

and Seventh Streets. It has been for many years owned 
and occupied by Mess Simon and Hyman Gratz, mer- 
chants. M' Fred. Graff informed me that his parents 
often mentioned to him, the circumstance of your resid- 
ing with them. The rooms which you occupied, are 
generally filled with goods. — I shall be deprived there- 
fore of the pleasure of joining my friends to celebrate 
the anniversary of our national independance in them, 
but I still feel happy in being able to designate the 
house . . ." 

Following the receipt of this letter, Jefferson adds to 
what we think is the rough draft of his original letter 
(of the 1 6th) — below the appended copy ^^ of his letter 
of the 20th : 



31 



[S] see Mease's Ire of Nov. 4. that the house was in fact at 
the S. W. corner of Market and ']^y streets ^^ 

A diagram of " the 1^. floor consisting of a parlour 
and bed room ready furnished " which Jefferson occupied 
is given by Agnes Y. McAllister in Potter* s^ etc., (N) for 
March, 1875, ^^^ ^^ ^^ follows : 



o o 

I I 



Of it, she says : " Mr. Hyman Gratz sketched for 
my father a plan^^ of the house as it was in 1776. This, 
with some account of the property, which my father had 

151 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

collected, and made a note of, he [her father] inserted in 
his copy of Mr. Riddle's ' Eulogium '. The following is a 
copy of . . . the note . . . ' The above shows the origi- 
nal plan of the house at the southwest corner of Market 
and Seventh streets. The two rooms in the second 
story, having the stairway between them, were occupied 
by Mr. Jefferson in 1776. In one of these rooms he 
wrote the Declaration of Independence. The corner 
house and the two adjoining houses on Market street 
became the property of Messrs. Simon and Hyman 
Gratz, merchants, about 1798, and were for many years 
occupied by them as their place of business. They 
added a fourth story to the height. They also closed 
up the door on Seventh street, and removed the stairs.^ 
The whole of the second story of the corner house is 
now in one room, but the place where the old stairway 
came up can be seen by the alteration in the boards of 
the floor. The corner house was occupied in 1776 by 
the father of the late Mr. Frederick Graff, who was then 
an infant. He told me^^ that he could remember hear- 
ing his parents say that he had often sat on Mr. Jeffer- 
son's knee. The sketch of the original plan of the 
house, from which this copy was made, was drawn for 
me to-day by Mr. Hyman Gratz. [Signed] John 
McAllister, Jr. July 6, 1855/ " 

The house was torn down in 1883^^; and a portion of 
the eastern ^^ half of the building used by the Penn Na- 
tional Bank now occupies its site. 

Thomas Donaldson, writing ^^ of its leveling, says: "I 
paid Mr. Thomas Little, a most genial and reliable man, 
a nominal sum for the material I selected. ^^ Mr. Little 

152 



Vffl 



ITS HISTORT 

was ... a soldier with Walker . . . Mr. Robert Gray, 
his foreman, aided me in every way possible to get mate- 
rial while the building was being demolished. I remained 
in and about that building from Wednesday, February 
28, 1883, until March 12, 1883, when it was leveled to 
the ground. Much of the material which I took from 
the building No. 700 Market street, I temporarily 
placed in the cellar of the store of my friend, Henry 
Troemner, No. 710 Market street. Now, as a curious 
fact, I took from a closet in the front room of the third 
story, some Continental money, many old receipts, some 
of them as early as 1791, a Hebrew letter to Mr. 
Gratz, of date 1802, several curious old cork inkstands, 
and about a quart of small pistol flints, like those used 
in the Revolution. The nails of the old portion of the 
house were hand made, and the joists were of cherry, 
oak, walnut and other rare woods — all of them im- 
ported. The outside bricks on Seventh street, and the 
front, were imported and were laid alternately, black and 
red. The house had been painted a gray or yellow, thus 
hiding or covering the original color of the bricks. 
Some large keys were found, perhaps 150 in all, which I 
have, and also an ancient door lock, hand made, a work 
of art, which once adorned the front door of the Jeffer- 
son house. Some mantles, stairways and rails were also 
ancient and rare. All of these articles of any interest, 
along with window frames, stone caps and sills, old doors 
and sashes, floors, stringers and wood-work, I took out 
and now have stored under roof on a lot in Philadelphia.*^ 
This material has been there thirteen years.*^ The in- 
surance escutcheon, which was the ' Green Tree,' which 

153 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

was on the east wall of No. 700, below the middle sec- 
ond-story window, Mr. Dallett, I think, received. It is 
a curious fact that while this building was being torn 
down there were no relic hunters about and no curiosity 
evinced by spectators. A few antiquarians called and 
confirmed No. 700 as the house. The only person who 
asked for a relic was Mr. Augustus R. Hall, of Hall & 
Carpenter, No. 709 Market street, and he got a joist out 
of No. 700 Market street house. It was cloudy for five 
days after the destruction of the building began and no 
photograph of it was taken. The ' kodak ' was not in 
general use then. I saw Mr. F. Gutekunst, the eminent 
photographer, about taking some views of it, but it 
could not then be done . . . The fourth day of the 
tearing down revealed what I all along had suspected : 
that No. 700 Market street was the house in which Mr. 
Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, because 
it was the first house built on the Graff lot, Mr. S. Hart, 
Mr. Thomas Little and Mr. Robert Gray were present 
when I knocked some of the plaster off the west wall of 
No. 700 Market street, which was the inside of the east 
side of No. 702 Market street, the house recently 
claimed *^ to be the one in which Mr. Jefferson wrote the 
Declaration. We found that it was the outer wall of No. 
700 Market street when it was a single unattached build- 
ing, because*^ the joints between the bricks were struck 
joints to resist the weather as well as for appearances, 
a thing which was then never done on an inside wall." 

The desk upon which Jefferson wrote the Declaration** 
is now^^ in the Library of the Department of State. 

154 



ITS HISTORT 

It was presented by Jefferson himself to Joseph Coo- 
lidge, Jr., in 1825, as shown by a letter of Jefferson, also 
in the Library of that Department : 

[S] Th : Jefferson gives this Writing desk to Joseph Coolidge 
jun^ as a memorial of affection, it was made from a drawing of 
his own, by Ben Randall *^, cabinet maker of Philadelphia, with 
whom he first lodged on his arrival*^ in that city in May 1776. 
and is the identical one on which he wrote the Declaration of 
Independance. Politics, as well as Religion, has it's supersti- 
tions, these gaining strength with time, may, one day, give im- 
aginary value to this relic, for it's association with the birth of 
the Great charter of our Independance. 
Monticello. Nov. 18. 1825.^8 

On April 28, 1880, Congress resolved: " [D^] That 
the thanks of this Congress be presented to J. Randolph 
Coolidge, Algernon Coolidge, Thomas Jefferson Coo- 
lidge, and Mrs. Ellen Dwight, citizens of Massachusetts, 
for the patriotic gift of the writing desk presented by 
Thomas Jefferson to their father, the late Joseph Coo- 
lidge, upon which the Declaration of Independence was 
written. And be it further resolved. That this precious 
relic is hereby accepted in the name of the Nation, and 
that the same be deposited for safe keeping in the De- 
partment of State of the United States." 



Jefferson's draft, with the minor amendments by John 
Adams and Franklin, was reported to Congress, Friday, 
June 28th. The Journal says : 

The Com*^.*'*^ appointed to prepare a declaration &c brought 
in a draught ^^ which was read 
Ordered to lie on the table 

IS5 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



VII 

THE LAST DAYSi 

[PHM] Fine sunshine, grew very warm, wind Southerly ... at 4 
came on a thunder gust with rain, cleared up by six . . . past 10 fine 
moon, light and pleasant. 



[MsJ] hour 


thermom 


9-0 A. M. 


8ii 


7- P. M 


82. 



On July I St (Monday), the Journal tells us, 

The order of the day being read 

Resolved That this Congress will resolve itself into a committee 
of the whole to take into consideration the resolution respecting 
independency 

Resolved That the Declaration be referred to said Committee 

The 
Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole 
The president resumed the chair. 
M'^ Harrison reported that the committee have had under 

them agreed 

consideration the matters to them referred to^and have =^= 

him report 

to a resolution 2 $h«=whichthey = ordered to — — but not hav - 

and 

ing come to a conclusio ft desired him to move for leave to sit again 

^ to the determination thereof 

The resolution agreed^by committee of the whole being read^ 
was postponed at the request of a Colony till to Morrow ^ 

• • « 

»S6 



ITS HIS TORT 

Resolved that this Congress will to morrow resolve itself into 
a committee of the whole to take into their farther considera- 
tion the declaration respecting independance 

Adjourned to 9 o Clock to morrow. 

July 1st ^ *j therefore, saw the final debate in the com- 
mittee of the whole upon the initial resolution of June 
7th and the adoption of it by that body. 

Of the debate, we have no report.^ 

It is certain, however, that Dickinson and John Adams 
took the " leading roles ". 

Adams, in his Autobiography, says : 

[Qy] The Subject had been in Contemplation for more than 
a Year and frequent discussions had been had concerning it. At 
one time and another, all the Arguments for it and against it had 
been exhausted and were become familiar. I expected no more 
would be said in public but that the question would be put and de- 
cided. M^ Dickinson however was determined ^ to bear his Tes- 
timony against it with more formality. He had prepared himself 
apparently with great labour and ardent Zeal, and in a Speech '' of 
great length, and all his eloquence, he combined together all that 
had before been written in Pamplets and Newspapers and all 
that had from time to time been said in Congress by himself and 
others. He conducted the debate, not only with great Ingenuity 
and Eloquence, but with equal Politeness and Candour : and was 
answered ^ in the same Spirit. No Member rose to answer him : 
and after waiting some time, in hopes that some one less obnox- 
ious than myself, who was stil-l : had been all along for a Year 
before, and still was represented and believed to be the Author of 
all the Mischief, I determined to speak. 

It has been said by some of our Historians, that I began by an 
Invocation to the God of Eloquence. This is a Misrepresenta- 
tion. Nothing so puerile as this fell from me. I began by say- 

157 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

ing that this was the first time of my Life that I had ever wished 
for the Talents and Eloquence of the ancient orators of Greece 
and Rome, for I was very sure that none of them ever had be- 
fore him a question of more Importance to his Country and to 
the World. They would probably upon less Occasions that 
[than] this would have begun by solemn Invocations to their 
Divinities for Assistance but the Question before me appeared so 
simple, that I had confidence enough in the plain Understanding 
and common Sense that had been given me, to believe that I 
could answer to the Satisfaction of the House all the Arguments 
which had been produced, notwithstanding the Abilities which 
had been displayed and the Eloquence with which they had been 
enforced." M^ Dickinson, some Years afterwards published ^ 
his Speech. I had made no Preparation beforehand and never 
committed any minutes of mine to writing. But if I had a Copy 
of M*" Dickinsons before me I would now after eight and nine 
and Twenty Years have elapsed endeavour to recollect mine. 
Before the final Question was put the new Delegates from 

D"" Witherspoon and M'^ Hopkinson 

New Jersey came in ^*^, and M' Stockton, one of them a very 
respectable Characters expressed a great desire to hear the Argu- 
ments. All was Silence : No one would speak : all Eyes were 

laughing 

turned upon me. M"" Edward Rutledge ^ came to me and said,^ 
Nobody will speak but you, upon this Subject. You have 
all the Topicks so ready, that you must satisfy the Gentlemen 
from New Jersey. I answered him laughing, that it had so 
much the Air of exhibiting like an Actor or Gladiator for the 
Entertainment of the Audience, that I was ashamed to repeat 
what I had said Twenty times before, and I thought nothing 
new could be advanced by me. The New Jersey Gentlemen 
however still insisting on hearing at least a Recapitulation of 
the Arguments and no other Gentleman being willing to 
speak, I summed up the Reasons Objections and Answers, in 
as concise a manner, as I could, till at length the Jersey 



ITS HISTORT 

Gentlemen said they were fully satisfied and ready for the Ques- 
tion, which was then put and determined in the Affirmative 

M' Jay Mr Duane and Mr William Livingston of New Jersey were not present. But they ail 
acquiesced in the Declaration and steadily supported it ever afterwards. 12 

In a letter to Mercy Warren, written at Quincy, Au- 
gust 7, 1807, he tells us: 

[QyCJ In the previous multiplied debates which we had upon 
the subject of Independence, the Delegates from New Jersey had 
voted against us, their Constituents were informed of it and re- 
called them and sent us a new sett on purpose to vote for Inde- 
pendence. Among those were Chief Justice Stockton and Df 
Witherspoon. In a [the] morning when Congress met we ex- 
pected the question would be put and carried without any further 
Debate ; because we knew we had a Majority and thought that 
argument had been exhausted on both sides as indeed it was, for 
nothing new was ever afterwards advanced on either side. But 
the Jersey Delegates appearing for the first time, desired that the 
question might be discussed. We observed to them that the 
Question was so public and had been so long disputed in Pamph- 
lets News Papers and every Fireside, that they could not be un- 
informed and must have made up their minds. They said it was 
true they had not been inattentive to what had been passing 
abroad, but they had not heard the arguments in Congress, and 
did not incline to give their opinions untill they should hear the 
sentiments of Members there. Judge Stockton was most partic- 
ularly Importunate, till the members began to say let the Gentlemen 
be gratifi'd and the Eyes of the assembly were turned upon me 
and several other of them said come Mr Adams you have had the 
subject at heart longer than any of us, and you must recapitulate 
the arguments. I was somewhat confused at this personal ap- 
plication to me and would have been very glad to be excused ; 
but as no other person arose after some time I said. " This is 
the first time of my life when I seriously wished for the genius 

159 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

and Eloquence of the celebrated Orators of Athens & Rome. 
Called in this unexpected and unprepared manner, to exhibit all 
the arguments in favour of a measure the most important, in my 
judgment, that ever had been discussed in civil or political society, 
I had no art or Oratory to exhibit, and could produce nothing 
but simple reason and plain Common sence. I felt myself 
oppressed by the vi^eight of the subject : and I believed if 
Demosthenes or Cicero had ever been called to deliberate on 
so great a question, neither w^ould have relied on his own 
Talents without a supphcation to Minerva and a Sacrifice to 
Mercury or the God of Eloquence." All this to be sure was but 
a flourish ; and not as I conceive a very bright Exordium : but 
I felt awkwardly, but nothing that I said had the most remote 
resemblance to an "invocation of the God of Eloquence" . . . 
I wish someone had remembered the speech, for it is almost the 
only one I ever made that I wish was literally preserved. The 
Delegates of New Jersey declared themselves perfectly satisfied 
. . . "Que n'ai je recu le Genie et L'Eloquence des celebres 
orateurs d' Athens et de Rome " ^^, . . are all the true words of 
my speech that have ever appeared in Print. 

His words written on the very day of the debate ^* are 
still more interesting. In a letter to Bullock, penned 
evidently before Congress met, he says: "[QyC] This 
Morning is assigned for the greatest Debate of all " ; 
and, after he has spoken and the vote has been taken in 
the committee of the whole, he thus answers a letter ^^ of 
Chase : 

[QyC] Your favour by the Post this morning gave me much 
pleasure, but the generous and unanimous vote of your Conven- 
tion, gave me much more. It was brought into Congress this 
morning just as we were entering on the great debate. That 
debate took up most of the day, but it was an idle mispence of 

i6o 



ITS HISTORT 

time, for nothing was said, but what had been repeated and 
hackneyed in that Room before an hundred times for six months 
past. 

In the Committee of the whole the question was carried in the 
affirmative, and reported to the House. — A Collony desired it to 
be postponed until tomorrow, then it will pass by a great Majority, 
perhaps with almost unanimity; Yet I cannot promise this i^, 
because one or two Gentlemen may possibly be found who will 
vote point blank against the known and declared sense of their 
Constituents. Maryland however, I have the pleasure to 
inform, you, behaved well. — Paca, generously and nobly . . . 

If you imagine that I expect this Declaration will ward off 
calamities from this Country, you are much mistaken. A 
Bloody conflict we are destined to endure. — This has been my 
opinion from the beginning. 

If you imagine that I flatter myself with happiness and Halcyon 
days after a separation . . . you are mistaken again . . . But 
Freedom is a Counter ballance for poverty, discord, and war, 
and more.i7 

It is of John Adams' speech upon this day that Rich- 
ard Stockton, a son of the Delegate ^^, writes (to John 
Adams), in a letter from Princeton of September 12, 
1 82 1 : "[Qy] I have just alluded to my Father and shall 
take leave to mention an anecdote ... I well remember 
that on his first return home from Congress in the sum- 
mer of 1776 after the 4- of July he was immediately 
surrounded by his anxious political Friends who were 
eager for minute information in respect of the great event 
which had just taken place — - Being then a Boy of some 
observation and of very retentive memory I remember 
these words addressed to his Friends — ' The Man to 
whom the Country is most indebted for the great meas- 
" 161 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

ure of Independence is M' John Adams of Boston ' — 
' I call him the Atlas of American independence' — He 
it was who sustained the debate, and by the force of his 
reasonings demonstrated not only the justice but the 
expediency of the measure ' ! This I have often spoken 
of to others and distinctly remember the very language 
v/hich he used/* 

Walton ^^, also in a letter to Adams, written at Au- 
gusta, Ga., November 7, 1789, says : '' [Qy] I can truly 
assure you, that, since the i'.' day of July, 1776, my con^ 
duct, in every station in life, has corresponded with the 
result of that great question which you so ably and 
faithfully developed on that day — a scene which has 
ever been present to my mind. It was then that I felt 
the strongest attachments ; and they have never departed 
from me." 

Jefferson, writing, February 19, 18 13, to William P. 
Gardner, tells us : " [P] no man better merited, than 
nir John Adams to hold a most conspicuous place in the 
design ^^ he was the pillar of it's support on the floor 
of Congress, it's ablest advocate and defender against 
the multifarious assaults it encountered." He is re- 
ported ^^ to have expressed similar views in 1824: "John 
Adams was our Colossus on the floor. He was not 
graceful nor elegant, nor remarkably fluent, but he came 
out occasionally with a power of thought and expression, 
that moved us from our seats." ^^ 

Wilson ^^andWitherspoon^* also are said to have spoken. 

As to what took place following the debate, Jefferson, 
however, is even more specific than either the Journal 
or Adams. 

162 



ITS HISTORT 

His notes say that the resolution was carried in the 
committee of the whole 

in the affirmative by the votes of ^5 N. Hampshire, Connecticut, 
Massachusets, Rhode island, N. Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, 
N. Carolina, & Georgia. S. Carolina and Pennsylvania voted 
against it. Delaware having but two members present, they 
were divided ; the delegates from New York declared they were 
for it themselves & were assured their constituents were for it, 
but that their instructions having been drawn near a twelve- 
month before, when reconciliation was still the general object, 
they were enjoined by them to do nothing which should impede 
that object, they therefore thought themselves not justifiable in 
voting on either side, and asked leave to withdraw from the 
question, which - thoy had was given them, the Commee rose & 

Edward 

reported their resolution to the house. riir^Rutlege of S. Carolina 

requested 

then desired the determination might be put off to the next day, 

A 

as he believed his collegues, tho' they disapproved of the resolu- 
tion, would then join in it for the sake of unanimity. 

To the same effect is his letter, dated August 29, 1787, 
to the editor of the Journal of Paris, replying to an 
announcement and criticism that day published of a book 
of M. de Mayer, in which it was stated that America owed 
her Declaration of Independence to Dickinson. It says : 

[P] on the I. day of July they resolved themselves into a 
committee of the whole, and resumed the consideration of the 
motion of June 7. it was debated through the day, and at 
length was decided in the affirmative by the votes of the 9. states, 
viz New Hampshire Massachusets, Rhode island, N. Jersey^ 
Maryland^ Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. Pennsylvania 
h South Carolina voted against it. Delaware having but 

163 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

two members present, was divided, the delegates from New 
York declared they were for it, & their constituents also: but 
that the instructions against it which had been given them 
a twelvemonth before, were still unrepealed ; that their con- 
vention was to meet in a few days, and they asked leave to 
suspend their vote till they could obtain a repeal of their in- 
structions, observe that all this was in a committee of the whole 
Congress, and that according to the mode of their proceedings 

Resolution-t-of that Committee to 

the question w h othor they would declare themselves independant 
was to be put to the same persons re-assuming their form as 
Congress, it was now evening, the members exhausted by a 
debate of 9 hours, during which all the powers of the soul had 
been distended with the magnitude of the object, and the delegates 
of S. Carolina desired that the final decision might be put off to 
the next morning that they might still weigh in their own minds 
their ultimate vote, it was put off . , . 

Whipple and Bartlett wefe present from New Hamp« 
shire ; Sherman and Huntington from Connecticut; Han- 
cock (the President), Samuel and John Adams, Gerry and 
Paine from Massachusetts ; Hopkins and Ellery from 
Rhode Island ; Stockton, Witherspoon, Hopkinson, 
Hart and Clark from New Jersey ; Paca and Stone and 
probably Rogers from Maryland ; Jefferson, Harrison, 
Nelson, Francis Lightfoot Lee and Braxton from Virginia ; 
Hewes and Penn from North Carolina; and Gwinnett, 
Hall and Walton from Georgia. Edward Rutledge, Hey- 
ward, Thomas Lynch, Jr., and Arthur Middleton were 
present from South Carolina ; and Thomas Lynch, Sr., also 
was at least in Philadelphia. Franklin, Wilson, Morton, 
Dickinson, Robert Morris, Willing and Humphreys seem 
to have been present from Pennsylvania. M:Kean and 

164 



i^ 






■'t ffi/fl' 



,; fKi/A"^ "■'/'' 









\ in"' ^ 



U- 



.*- 



Kix'liitixn ot thf committrr or 



Kixiliitixn ot thf committrr or t:ir «i..< •■■ .• ■ „ .. n A'^r rr-r- 

on thr im.rniiv. ot thr li. now in thr L.traiy ot *-""'iJftL" „"< 'r^rrw. aruJ the 
lution U in the hanJ^vriting ot Charles Thon«on. ^l^'^^ °\^'^'^ ^^^, 
™tr in thr handwriting ot John Hanvock. Prr«a™t. ^'^ .}^- ^J^ „^ h«l 
did not .^tr. .V. the votr of IWawarr is in '»''.»«""'":■ S^'^.o^' ^.^ 
b««. *nt tor by "nKmui* M:Kran «id «hoM:Kran sip (S« p. 193), «««««» 
" in his boots," had evidmtly arri\-ed, on the ad. 



ITS HIS TORT 

Read were present from Delaware. Clinton, Floyd, Wis- 
ner, Lewis and Alsop were present from New York. 
Philip Livingston, we know, expected to leave New York 
City for Philadelphia on June 30th ; but we do not know 
when he arrived, except that it was on or before July 3d. 



[PHM] Cloudy morning . . , before 10 came on a heavy rain, con- 
tinued till past 2, cleared up 5 grew warm ...11 fine moonlight . . * 
[MsJ] 6. A. M. 

9-40' A. M. 
9. P. M. 



78. 
78 
74 



The Journal for July 2d says : 



The Congress resumed ^^ the consideration of the resolution 

by 

agreed to^5c reported from the committee of the whole and the 
same being read was agreed to^^ as follows. 
Resolved, That these united colonies are and of right ought to be 
free and independant states; that they are absolved from all allegiance 
to the british crown and that all political connection between them 
and the state of great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved. 

the 

Agreeable to-order of the day the Congress resolved itself 
into a committee of the whole 
The preside resumed the chair 

M' Harrison reported that the com^*' have had under con- 
sideration the declaration to them referred but not having had 
time to go through desired leave to sit again 
Resolvf That this Congress will tomorrow again resolve itself 
into a committee of the whole to take into their farther consider- 
ation the declaration to th - on independance 

It thus appears that the initial resolution of June 7th, 
which was " agreed to by & reported from the committee 

16s 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

of the whole " on July ist, was adopted ^^ by Congress 
on the 2d. 

Jefferson's noUs say : 

S. Carolina concurred in voting for it. in the mean time 
a third member [Rodney 29] had come post^^ from the Delaware 
counties and turned the vote of that colony in favour of the 
resolution, members of a different sentiment attending that 
morning from Pennsylvania also, their vote was changed, so that 
the whole 12. colonies, who were authorized to vote at all, gave 
their voices for it 

His letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris says : 

[P] ... in the morning of the ^^ of July they [the Delegates 
of South Carolina] joined the other nine states in voting for it. 
The members of the Pennsylvania delegation too, who had been 

turned 

absent the day before, fiew came in & decided - the vote of their 
state in favor of Independance, and a 3'^ member of the state of 
Delaware, who, hearing of the division in the sentiments of his 
two collegues, had travelled post to arrive in time, now came in 
and decided the vote* of that state also for the resolution. 

The members present from Pennsylvania seem to 
have been the same as on the 1st, except Dickinson and 
Robert Morris. 

The 2d of July, and not the 4th, therefore, was the 
day upon which America declared^^ her independence of that 
nation " whose morning-drum beat," in the language of 
Daniel Webster, " following the sun, and keeping com- 
pany with the hours, circles the earth with one continu- 
ous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England.** 

John Adams, writing to his wife on the jd^^, says: 
" [Qy] Yesterday the greatest Question was decided, 

166 



\ 



m,^ 



}^''J:.Xt:^k 



r 1 1 k i; E L) O L, i , A k S i 

RANa,.aytU t,lm ,nfi.,„.. . \c,ro,„nn ,„.„,. 



GJHilT; S.( 



'O he SOLD, Ihc briganiine TWO FRIEMI 



)Mnc hunJrcd aiid Alt/ or -a thuufjnU bar 
The khouncr MARY ANN. ilic is ; 
four yean old, and carries four hundred 
flour. 

Tlu' f.Kr-,n-.T h lo.l.Ld .iBd rradv Kr. ., 



, Qui ARk.M. 
be fold by O 
Sccond-llrcci, oppoliri 



\ 



JX inSf:,^,id-llr=fi, an lulh rerv.ini man i, ,mcJ 
GiBNEY, li,iity veai.-of aite or upward- He had i 
»av, a blue co.,!,' fpot.rd il,„l jaiher. a 



Wiiioii dnlli _ 

tlittad Hocking", a pair u( pu 

buckle!. He i. fnppnfcd lo b 

Whoever takes up (aid fcvs 

alter gets him again, (hall 

rd, nn-i rcnfonab 



Li.NOS I 



,n cr aboui Philadelphia. 
, B*r.d Iccurts him fo tiiat Lis 
ve IWtNfY FlVl- SHiL- 
chargcs. 
LAWRENCE POWEL. 



INDIGO :o be fokl by John Ha;t. 



r ik.-.ViU r..,. Uu- l.,o,.:V.r, Mmg near John M-.: 
C5 „-.-,.c.pe, ,. ^-rraiv.a .....d.ip, Derk, coun:) 









uobV.ri 



■Ll'MIA: Prin:c<t by (iKN'j.AMI 



A page of The Fennsyhania Evening Post (Sec note 31. chapter vii) of July 
2, 1776, containing the first announcement in any newspaper of the passage of the 
resolution ileclarinj; tlie Colonies free and independent States. 



ITS HIS TORT 

which ever was debated in America, and a greater perhaps, 
never was or v/ill be decided among Men. a Resolution 
was passed without one dissenting Colony, that these 
united Colonies ' are, and of right ought to be free and 
independent States . . / You will see in a few days a 
Declaration setting forth the Causes, which have impelled 
Us to this mighty Revolution, and the Reasons which 
will justify it, in the Sight of God and Man . . . Britain 
has been fill'd with Folly, and America with Wisdom 
. . ." " [Qy] Had the Declaration of Independency 
been made seven Months ago, it would have been at- 
tended with many great and glorious Effects. We 

might before this Hour, have formed Alliances with 
foreign States. — We should have mastered Quebec and 
been in Possession of Canada . . . But on the other 
Hand, the Delay of this Declaration to this Time, has 
many great Advantages attending it — The Hopes of 
Reconciliation, which were fondly entertained by Multi- 
tudes of honest and well-meaning tho weak and mistaken 
People, have been gradually and at last totally extin- 
guished. — Time has been given for the whole People, 
maturely to consider, the great Question of Independence 
and to ripen their Judgment, dissipate their Fears and 
allure their Hopes, by discussing it in News Papers 
and Pamphletts, by debating it, in Assemblies Conven- 
tions, Committees of Safety and Inspection in Town and 
County Meetings, as well as in private Conversations, 
so that the whole People in every Colony of the 13 have 
now adopted it, as their own Act. This will cement 
the Union, and avoid those Heats and perhaps Convul- 
sions which might have been occasioned, by such a 

167 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Declaration six Months ago. — But the Day is past— • 
The second Day of July 1776, will be the most memo- 
rable Epoca, in the History of America. — - 1 am apt to 
believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Genera- 
tions, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to 
be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverence by solemn 
Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be 
solemnized with Pomp and Parade with Shews, Games, 
Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from 
one End of this Continent to the other from this Time 
forward forever more. You will think me transported 
with Enthusiasm but I am not-— I am well aware of 
the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us 
to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend 
these States — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the 
Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that 
the End is more than worth all the Means. And that 
Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transactions, even 
altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall 
not. — " 

It also appears that, on this same day (the 2d), after 
the adoption of the resolution reported by the committee 
of the whole. Congress again resolved itself into a 
committee of the whole and proceeded — as given by 
Jefferson*s notes — ^ 

to consider the declaration of Independance which had been re- 

and on Monday referred to a comiriee of the whole. 

ported & laid on the table the Friday preceding . 



[PHM] Fine clear & very cool morning to the weather y* we have had 
some days past wind Northerly blows fresh . . . came home near II, 
Ane cool moonlight night . . . 

168 



ITS HISTORT 



[MsJ] 5-30' A. M. 
1-30. P. M. 
8-10. 



71^ 

76 

74- 



On July 3d, as shown by the Journal, 

Agreeable to the order of the day the congress resolved itself 
into a committee of the whole to take into their farther con- 
sideration the Declaration 

The president resumed the chair & M"" Harrison reported that 
the com^.*= not having finished desire leave to sit again 
Resolved that this Congress will to morrow resolve itself into a 
committee of the whole to take into their farther consideration 
the declaration 

Adjourned to 9 o Clock tomorrow 



[PHM] Fine sunshine pleasant morning wind S. E. 



[MsJ] 6. A. M. 

9- 

I. P. M. 

9- 



68. 

72i 

73h 



On the morning of the 4th ^^ of July, Clark writes, 
to Colonel Ellas Dayton: "[PD] At the Time our 
Forces in Canada were retreating before a Victorious 
Army, while Gen!.^ Howe with a Large Armament is 
Advancing towards N. York, Our Congress Resolved to 
Declare the United Colonies Free and independent States, 
A Declaration for this Purpose, I expect, will this Day 
pass Congress, it is nearly gone through, after which it 
will be Proclaimed with all the State & Solemnity cir- 
cumstances will admit. It is gone so far that we must 
now be a free independent State, or a Conquered Country 

169 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

... no express hath yet come in this morning ... I 
wrote you the day before I left home ... I assure you 
Sir, Our Congress is an August Assembly — and can they 
Support the Declaration now on the Anvil, they will be 
the greatest Assembly on Earth — " 
The Journal for the day says : 

Agreeable to the order of the day the Congress resolved Itself 
into a committee of the whole to take into their farthe[r] con- 
sideration the declaration 

The president reslimed the chair 

M*" Harrison reported that the committee of the whole Con- 
gress have agreed to a Declaration which he delivered in 

The Declaration being again read was agreed to ^ as follows 

[No writing (in the rough Journal) " follows " this, the 
entire lower half of the page (94) being blank. ^^ A 
printed copy^^of the Declaration, instead, was inserted. 
This is attached to the blank half-page by three wafers, 
forming a triangle, in the left upper corner of the Decla- 
ration and on the left side of the page and by a fourth, 
also near the top of the Declaration but, on the right side 
of the page — all of the wafers being round and red, and 
all being between the Declaration and the page save a part 
of the right hand one of the three forming the triangle. 

[In the corrected Journal, the Declaration^^ is written 
out. It begins on page 639 and ends on page 646. 

[The following is at the top of page 95 (in the rough 
Journal) :] 

Ordered That the declaration be authenticated & printed ^^ 

That the committee appointed to prepare the declaration 
superintend & correct the press. 

170 



.'l..iA Uff. »./- y^ «V *''f^'r 

,//■/„ .,iUe.,yl/. 4^-y.<:><- .J'.-<'-^- 






1 



■* i ^. c o N c; R t. :•, :,, j ^^ i.v ,, ,-:,.. 
A D i: C L A R A T I O N 

l?v TiiH R IC P R E S E K (A l' I VE S ok tiik 

UNITED STATtS OF AMERlCyX. 



\^' 



In general COK C; RESS assem 



f 



JOHN HANCOCK, 1' 



Pas:p< 04 anJ 05 of the roii^li Journal, now in the r.ihrnry nf Corv.'rc". in 
Wasliiniiton, sliowinir some of the entries for July 4, 177O. 'lluv an- in the hand- 
writing of Charles Thomson. Secretary of Congress. The lower half of page 94 
was left blank and, as seen, a printed copy of the Declaration, printed by John Dunlap, 
in Philadelphia, under the order of Congress found at the top of page 95, was wafered 
onto the page, probably on the 5th. 



ITS HISTORT 

That copies 2^ of the declaration be sent to the several as- 
semblies, conventions & committees or councils of safety and 
to the several commanding officers of the continental troops that 
it be proclaimed in each of the united states & at the head of 
the army. « 

Thus we see that it was the Declaration ^ itself — its 
substance and form — that was determined on the 
4th.'' 

Jefferson, in his notes, in speaking of the amendments 
made by Congress (though, of course, we do not know 
which ones were made on the 2d, which on the 3d or 
which on the 4th), says : 

the pusillanimous idea that we had friends in England worth 
keeping terms with, still haunted the minds of many, for this 
reason those passages which conveyed censures on the people of 
England were struck out, lest they should give them offence, 
the clause too, reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of 

Africa, was struck out in complaisance^-te- South Carolina & 
Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importation 
of slaves, and who on the contrary still wished to continue it. 
our Northern brethren also I believe felt a little tender on that - 
under those censures ; for tho' their people have very few slaves 
themselves yet they had been pretty considerable carriers of them 
to others, the debates having taken up the greater parts of the 
2^ 3^! & 4^!" days of July were, in the evening of the last, closed the 
declaration was reported by the commee, agreed to by the house 

As tht sentiments of men are known not only by what they receive, but what they reject ftlso, fwlU state the farm of th« 
present 

and signed by every member^except mr Dickinson.^declaration 

struck out 

as originally reported, is hero oubjoincd , the parts omitt e d arc d by 

shall be ^ 

Congress -ate- distinguished by a black line drawn under them; 

171 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

by them shall be 

& those inserted^-afe- placed in the margin or in a concurrent 
columns. 

A Declaration by the representatives of the United states of 
America, in General Congress assembled. 

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for 
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected 
them with another, and to assume among the powers of the 
earth the separate & equal station to which the laws of nature 
and of nature's god entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions 
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which 
impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men 

are created equaH^. that they are endowed by their creator 

certain with^ inherent and inalienable rights; that among these are 

life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness*^: that to secure 

[The following is on the reverse side of page 7 :] 
8. 

these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their 
just powers from the consent of the governed ; that whenever 
any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, & to institute new 
government, laying it's foundation on such principles, & organiz- 
ing it's powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to 
effect their safety & happiness, prudence indeed will dictate that 
governments long established should not be changed for light 
& transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath shown 
that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufFer- 
able, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which 
they are accustomed, but when a long train of abuses & usur- 
pations [begun at a distinguished period and] pursuing invariably 
the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute 
despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such 
government, & to provide new guards for their future security. 

172 



ITS HISTORY 
such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies ; & such Is 

them 

now the necessity which constrains^to ^ [expunge] their forn-ier ^ ^^^^^ 

systems of government, the history of the present king of Great 

Britain is a history of ^ [unremitting] injuries & usurpations, ^repeated 

[among which appears no solitary fact to contradict the uniform 

tenor of the rest but all have] ^ in direct object the establishment ^ au having 

of an absolute tyranny over these states, to prove this let facts 

be submitted to a candid world [for the truth of which we pledge 

a faith yet unsullied by falsehood.] 

^^ he has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome & 
necessary for the public good. 

he has forbidden his governors to pass laws of Immediate & 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his 
assent should be obtained ; & when so suspended, he has utterly 
neglected to attend to them. 

he has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the 
right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to 
them, & formidable to tyrants only. 

he has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures. 

he has dissolved representative houses repeatedly [& continually] 
for opposing 

9- 

with manly firmness his Invasions on the rights of the people. 

he has refused for a long time after such dissolutions to cause 
others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of 
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exer- 
cise, the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dan- 
gers of Invasion from without & convulsions within. 

he has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; 

173 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of for- 
eigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations 
hither, & raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 
A, obstructed he has ^ [suffered] the administration of justice [totally to cease 

A by in some of these states ] ^ refusing his assent to laws for estab- 

lishing judiciary powers. 

he has made [our] judges dependant on his will alone, for the 
tenure of their offices, & the amount &.paiment of their salaries. 

he has erected a multitude of new offices [by a self assumed 
power] and sent hither swarms of new officers to harass our 
people and eat out their substance. 

he has kept among us in times of peace standing armies [and 
fhips of war] without the consent of our legislatures. 

he has affected to render the military independant of, & supe- 
rior to the civil power. 

he has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdic- 
tion foreign to our constitutions & unacknoleged by our 
laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation for 
quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; for protecting 
them by a mock-trial from punishment for any murders which' 
they should commit on the inhabitants of these states ; for cut- 
ting off our trade with all parts of the world ; for imposing taxes 
A in many cases on US with out our consent ; for depriving us ^ of the benefits 
of trial by jury ; for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for 
pretended offences ; for abolishing the free system of English 
laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 

[The following is on the reverse side of page 9 :] 
10. 

government, and enlarging it*s boundaries, so as to render it at 
once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same 
absolute rule into these ^ [states] ; for taking away our charters, 
abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the 
forms of our governments ; for suspending our own legislatures, 

174 



ITS HISTORT 

& declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in 
all cases whatsoever. 

he has abdicated government here ^ [withdrawing his governors, ^^ by declaring us 
and declarinp; us out of his allegiance & protection] out of his pro- 

o D T J tection&waging 

he has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, war against us. 
& destroyed the lives of our people. 

he is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercen- 
aries to compleat the works of death, desolation & tyranny scarcely parai- 
already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy . un- Jeied m the most 

J ° ... . * -' A barbarous ages 

worthy the head of a civilized nation. & totally 

he has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the 

high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the 

executioners of their friends & brethren, or to fall themselves by 

their hands. 

he has . endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers excited domestic 

•1 T 1- ^ r r • insurrections A 

the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is among us, & has 
an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, & conditions 
[of existence.] 

[he has excited treasonable insurrections of our fellow-citizens, 
ifh the allurements of forfeiture & confiscation of our property. 



^ip 



l^e has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating 
it's' most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a 
distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying 
them into slavery *^ in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable 
death in their transportation thither, this piratical warfare, the 
opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king 
of Great Britain, determined to keep open a market where Men 
should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for 
suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain 
this execrable commerce, and that this assemblage of horrors 
might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those 
very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty 
of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people on 

175 " 



'DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

whom he also obtruded them : thus paying off former crimes 
committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which 
he urges them to commit against the Hues of another.] A 

' II. 
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for 
redress in the most humble terms : our repeated petitions have 
been answered only by repeated injuries. 

a prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may 
/\ free define a tyrant is unfit to be a ruler of a ^^ people [who mean to 

be free, future ages will scarcely believe that the hardiness of 
one man adventured, within the short compass of twelve years 
only, to lay a foundation so broad & so undisguised for tyranny 
over a people fostered & fixed in principles of freedom.] 

Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British 
brethren, we have warned them from time to time of attempts by 
^ an unwarrantable their legislature to extend ^ [a] jurisdiction over ^ [these our states.] 
^ we have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration 

& settlement here, [no one of which could warrant so strange a 
pretension : that these were effected at the expence of our own 
blood & treasure, unassisted by the wealth or strength of Great 
Britain : that in constituting indeed our several forms of govern- 
ment, we had adopted one common king, thereby laying a founda- 



tion for perpetual league & amity with them : but that submission 

to their parliament was no part of our constitution, nor ever in 

}j3vg idea, if history may be credited : and]*^ we ^ ^''appealed to their 

X .^"'^ ^^ ^^^^^ native justice and magnanimity ^ [as well as to] the ties of our 

conjured them by "^ _ ° ■' ^ t . r" 

^ would inevitably common kindred to disavow these usurpations which ^ [were 
likely to] interrupt our connection and correspondence, they too 
have been deaf to the voice of justice & of consanguinity, [and 
when occasions have been given them, by the regular course of 
their laws, of removing from their councils the disturbers of our 
harmony, they have by their free election, re-established them 
in power at this very time too they are permitting their chief 
magistrate to send over not only souldiers of our common blood, 

176 



ITS HISTORY 



but Scotch*^ & foreign mercenaries to invade & destroy us. these 
facts have given the last stab to agonizing affection, and manly 
spirit bids us to renounce forever these unfeeling brethren, vi^e 
must endeavor to forget our former love for them, and hold them 
as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. 
we might have been a free and a great people together; but a 
communication of grandeur & of freedom it seems is below their 
dignity, be it so, since they will have it. the road to happiness 
& to glory is open to us too. we will tread it apart from them, 

ve must therefore and] ^^ acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our [eternal] 

md hold them as separation ^ ! 

:ltVe~ in [The following is on the reverse side of page 1 1 :] 

ar, in peace friends, j 2 . 



We therefore the representatives of 
the United states of America in Gen- 
eral Congress assembled do in the 
name, & by the authority of the good 
people of these [states reject & 



renounce all allegiance & subjection 
to the kings of Great Britain & ail 



others who may hereafter claim by, 
through or under them : we utterly 
dissolve all political connection which 
may heretofore have subsisted between 
us & the people or parliament of 



Great Britain : & finally we do assert 
& declare these colonies to be free & 



independant states,] & that as free 
& independant states, they have full 
power to levy war, conclude peace, 
contract alliances, establish commerce, 
& to do all other acts & things which 
independant states may of right do. 
and for the support of this declara- 
tion we mutually pledge to each other 
our lives, our fortunes & our sacred 
honour. 



We therefore the representatives of 
the United states of America in Gen- 
eral Congrefs assembled, appealing to 
the supreme judge of the world for the 
rectitude of our intentions, do in the 
name, & by the authority of the good 
people of these colonies, solemnly 
publish & declare that these United 
colonies are & of right ought to be 
free & independant states 5 that they 
are absolved from all allegiance to the 
British crown, and that all political 
connection between them & the state 
of Great Britain is, & ought to be, 
totally dissolved ; & that as free & 
independant states they have full power 
to levy war, conclude peace, contract 
alliances, establish commerce & to do 
all other acts & things which independ- 
ant states may of right do. 
and for the support of this declaration, 
with a firm reliance on the protection of 
divine providence we mutually pledge 
to each other our lives, our fortunes 
& our sacred honour. 



177 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Jefferson evidently was not pleased at these amend- 
ments*^; for he writes, to R. H. Lee, July 8th: "^For 
news I refer you to your brother [Francis Lightfoot Lee] 
who writes on that head. I inclose you a copy of the 
Declaration of Independance as agreed to by the house, & 
also as originally framed, you will judge whether it is the 
better or worse for the critics. I shall return to Virginia 
after the 1 1^!" of Aug. 1 wifh my succefsor may be certain to 
come before that time, in that case I shall hope to see you & 
nir Wythe^^ in Convention, that the buliness of government 
which is of everlasting concern may receive your aid." 

Nor, if he himself can be believed, did he accept them 
with the stoicism of a born-politician ; for, in a letter ^^ to 
Robert Walsh, written at Monticello, December 4, 1 8 1 8, 
he says : " [P] I state a few anecdotes of D' Franklin, 
within my own knolege," among which is the following : 
" [P] When the Declaration of Independance was under 
the consideration of Congress, there were two or three 
unlucky expressions in it which gave offence to some mem- 
bers. The words " Scotch and other foreign auxiliaries " 
excited the ire of a gentleman or two of that country. 
severe strictures on the conduct of the British king, in 
negativing our repeated repeals of the law which per- 
mitted the importation of slaves, were disapproved by 
some Southern gentlemen, whose reflections were not yet 
matured to the full abhorrence of that traffic, altho* the 
offensive expressions were immediately yielded, these 
gentlemen continued their depredations on other parts 
of the instrument. I was sitting^ by D! Franklin, who 
perceived that I was not insensible to these mutilations. 
" I have made it a rule, said he, whenever in my power, 

178 



ITS HISTORT 

to avoid becoming the draughtsman of papers to be 
reviewed by a public body. I took my lesson from an 
incident which I will relate to you. when I was a journey- 
man printer, one of my companions, an apprentice Hatter, 
having served out his time, was about to open shop for 
himself, his first concern was to have a handsome sign- 
board, with a proper inscription, he composed it in these 
words "John Thompson, Hatter^ makes and sells hats for 
ready money ^' with a figure of a hat subjoined, but he 
thought he would submit it to his friends for their 
amendments, the first he shewed it to thought the word 
" Hatter^' tautologous, because followed by the words 
" makes hats " which shew he was a Hatter, it was struck 
out. the next observed that the word '^makes'' might as 
well be omitted, because his customers would not care 
who made the hats, if good & to their mind, they would 
buy, by whomsoever made, he struck it out. a third 
said he thought the words "/<?r ready money,'' were use- 
less as it was not the custom of the place to sell on 
credit, every one who purchased expected to pay. they 
were parted with, and the inscription now stood " John 
Thomson sells hats." ^^ sells hats '* says his next friend ? 
why nobody will expect you to give them away, what 
then is the use of that word .^ it was stricken out, and 
" hats " followed it, the rather, as there was one painted 
on the board, so his inscription was reduced ultimately 
to "John Thomson " with the figure of a hat subjoined." 
We have the opinions of a few others also of the 
amendments. Bartlett writes, July ist : "The Declara- 
tion before Congress is, I think, a pretty good one. I 
hope it will not be spoiled by canvassing in Congress." 

179 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Mrs. Abigail Adams*, R. H. Lee's and Pendleton's 
letters of July 14th, July 21st and August loth, respec- 
tively, are given elsewhere.^* John Adams, in his letter 
of 1822 to Pickering, says : " [Ms] Congress cut off about 
a quarter part of it, as I expected they would, but they ob- 
literated some of the best of it and left all that was excep- 
tionable, if anything ^^ in it was. I have long wondered 
that the original draft has not been published. I suppose 
the reason is the vehement Phillipic against Negro Slavery." 
"[H] It was two o'clock ^^ in the afternoon", says 
Lossing^^ (though upon what authority he does not 
state, and, we think, with little, if any, warrant), " when 
the final decision ^^ was announced by Secretary Thom- 
son . . . when the secretary sat down, a deep silence 
pervaded that august assembly. Thousands of anxious 
citizens had gathered in the streets ^^ . . . From the 
hour when Congress convened in the morning, the old 
bellman had been in the steeple. He placed a boy at 
the door below, to give him notice when the announce- 
ment should be made. As hour succeeded hour, the 
gray-beard shook his head, and said, ' They will never 
do it ! they will never do it ! ' Suddenly a loud shout 
came up from below, and there stood the blue-eyed boy, 
clapping his hands and shouting, ' Ring ! ring ! ' Grasp- 
ing the iron tongue of the old bell^^ . . . backward and 
forward he hurled it a hundred times, its loud voice pro- 
claiming ' Liberty throughout all the land, unto all the 
inhabitants thereof.' The excited multitude in the streets 
responded with loud acclamations, and with cannon-peals, 
bonfires, and illuminations, the patriots held glorious 
carnival that night in the quiet city of Penn." 

180 



ITS HISTORY 



L 



VIII 

NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA 

ET us take a brief glance at the situation in New 
York and in Pennsylvania. 



The Provincial Congress of New York convened In 
the Assembly Chamber of the City Hall in New York 
City on May 14th. On the 15th, Alsop was present; 
and, five days later, Francis Lewis appeared. 

Jay also had been elected to this Congress and had 
left^ Philadelphia; and Duane^, who had remained there, 
sent him a copy of the resolution of Congress of May 
I5th^ on the day after its publication, and R. R. Living- 
ston (also at Philadelphia) wrote* him concerning it on 
the next day. 

On the 1 8th, Duane again wrote him, saying: "[Z] 
I wrote you, my dear Sir, a hasty scrawl by the post 
on a most important subject. You know the Mary- 
land Instructions ^ and those ^ of Pensylvania. I am 
greatly in doubt whether either of their Assemblies 
or Conventions will listen to a recommendation the 
preamble of which so openly avows independence & 
separation. The lower Counties [Delaware] will probably 
adhere to Pensylvania. New Jersey you can gain a 
good judgment of from the reception this important 

181 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Resolution has met with. The orators of Virginia 
with Col. Henry "^ at their head are against a Change 
of Government ; the body of the people. Col. Nelson, on 
whose authority ^ you have this sent, thinks are for 
it . . . There seems therefore no reason that our Colony 
shou'd be too precipitate in changing the present mode 
of Government. I wou'd first be well assured of the 
opinion of the Inhabitants at large. Let them be rather 
followed than driven on an occasion of such moment. 
But, above all, let us see the conduct of the middle Col- 
onies before we come to a decision : It cannot injure us 
to wait a few weeks : the advantage will be great for this 
trying question will clearly discover the true principles & 
the extent of the Union of the Colonies." 

Following (doubtless) — May 24th ^ — the receipt of 
this letter. Jay also attended upon the Provincial Con- 
gress ; and, on the last day of the month, this body called 
upon the people to elect Deputies to a Convention (to 
meet, July 9th), authorized to act upon the question of 
the formation of a new government (for New York). 

A letter dated New York City the same day {May 
31st) says: "I do not learn that a word has been said 
in our Convention [Provincial Congress] upon the sub- 
ject of a Declaration of Independence . . .'* 

The " Committee of Mechanics in union ", however, 
of which Lewis Thibou was chairman, sitting at Mechanic 
Hall in the same city, two days before (the 29th), " for 
ourselves and our constituents, hereby publicly declare[d] 
that, should you, gentlemen of our honourable Provincial 
Congress, think proper to instruct our most honourable 
Delegates in Continental Congress to use their utmost 

182 



ITS HISTORT 

endeavours in that august assembly to cause these United 
Colonies to become independent of Great Britain, it 
would give us the highest satisfaction ; and we hereby 
sincerely promise to endeavour to support the same with 
our Hves and fortunes." 

This address was answered by the Provincial Congress, 
June 4th : " We . . . cannot presume to instruct the 
Delegates of this Colony on the momentous question to 
which your address refers, until we are informed it is 
brought before the Continental Congress, and the sense 
of this Colony be required through this Congress." 

Scarcely had the ink dried upon this answer, when — 
the next day — a copy of the resolution of the Conven- 
tion of Virginia of May 15th, directing her Delegates to 
propose to Congress to declare independence, reached New 
York and was read in the Provincial Congress. This 
was two days before R. H. Lee offered in Congress the 
initial resolution in accordance with these instructions. 
Francis Lewis, and doubtless Alsop, had departed for 
Philadelphia^^; but Jay was still present. 

Three days later, Philip Livingston ^^ appeared in the 
Provincial Congress; and, on the loth^^, the President, 
Nathaniel Woodhull, received a letter from Floyd, Wis- 
ner, R. R. Livingston and Francis Lewis (who had 
lately arrived), dated Philadelphia, June 8th, which said : 
"Your Delegates here expect the question of Independ- 
ence will very shortly ^^ be agitated in Congress. Some 
of us consider ourselves as bound by our instructions not 
to vote on that question. The matter will admit of no 
delay. We have, therefore, sent an express, who will 
wait your orders." This was read at once " with closed 

183 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

doors "5 and, in the evening, was discussed — both Jay 
and Philip Livingston being present. 

On the evening of the next day (the nth), Jay intro- 
duced several resolutions (seconded by Henry Remsen), 
which, after being amended, were adopted. The amended 
resolutions set forth that the Provincial Congress had no 
power to take any action whatever on the subject of in- 
dependence but that it could and did recommend " to all 
the Freeholders and other Electors in this Colony, at the 
ensuing election, to be held in pursuance of a Resolution, 
of the [Provincial] Congress of the 31st day of May last 
past . . . [besides authorizing their Deputies to vote 
upon the subject of a government] to inform their said 
Deputies of their sentiments relative to the great ques- 
tion of Independency . . .'* 

At the same time, Jay and Remsen were directed to draft 
a reply to the letter of the Delegates. This draft, which 
seems to have been adopted as drawn, reads as follows : 
"... the [Provincial] Congress . . . are unanimously 
of opinion that you are not authorized by yourinstructions 
to give the sense of this colony on the question of declar- 
ing it to be, and continue, an independent State ; nor does 
this Congress incline to instruct you on that point ; it be- 
ing a matter of doubt whether their constituents intended 
to vest them with a power to deliberate and determine on 
that question. Indeed, the majority of this Congress are 
clearly of the opinion that they have no such authority.'* 

Francis Lewis, R. R. Livingston, Alsop ^*, Floyd and 
Wisner, in acknowledging it (June 17th ^^), in a letter 
in the handwriting of Livingston, said : " [Al] We rec*^ 
great pleasure from knowing the sentim^^ of the hon : 

184 



ITS HIS TORT 

the Convention [Provincial Congress], relative to the Im- 
portant subject on which we thought it our duty to ask 
their opinion. We are very happy in having it in our 
power to assure them, that we have hitherto taken no 
steps inconsistent with their intention as expressed in 
their letter, by which we shall be careful to regulate 
our future ^^ Conduct. — " 

Nothing further was done in New York^"^ until the 
meeting of the Convention ^^ — at the Court House in 
White Plains — on July 9th ^^. 

A letter and a note, as well as a second letter and a 
copy of the Declaration of Independence, — received 
meanwhile from Philadelphia — were then laid before 
that body. 

The first letter — in the handwriting of Clinton, dated 
July 2d and signed by Clinton, Wisner, Floyd, Francis 
Lewis and Alsop — said : " [Al; - ] The important Ques- 
tion of Indepency was agitated yesterday ^^ in a Committee 
of the whole Congress, and this Day will be finally 
determined in the House — We know the Line of our 
Conduct on this Occasion ; we have your Instructions, 
and will faithfully pursue them — New Doubts and 
Difficulties however will arise should Independency be 
declared ; and that it will not, we have not the least 
Reason to expect nor do we believe that (if any) 
more than one Colony (and the Delegates of that 
divided) will vote against the Question ; every Colony 
(ours only excepted) having withdrawn their former In- 
structions, and either positively instructed their Delegates 
to vote for Independency ; or concur In such Vote if they 
shall judge it expedient — What Part are we to act after 

185 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

this Event takes Place ; every Act we join in may then 
be considered as in some Measure acceding to the Vote 
of Independency and binding our Colony on that Score 
. . . We wish therefore for your earliest Advice & 
Instructions whether we are to consider our Colony 
bound by the Vote of the Majority in Favour of Inde- 
pency and vote at large on such Questions as may arise 
in Consequence thereof or only concur in such Measures 
as may be absolutely necessary for the Common safety 
& defence of America exclusive of the Idea of Inde- 
pency — We fear it will be difficult to draw the Line ; 
but once possessed of your Instructions we will use our 
best Endeavours to follow them — " 

The note — in the handwriting of Wisner, also dated 
the 2d and signed by Wisner — said : " [Al] Since Writ- 
ing the inclosed the question of independance has Been 
put in Congress and Carried in the afirmative without 
one Desenting vote [New York, of course, not voting] 
I therefore Beg your answer as quick as posable to the 
inclosed[.] '* 

The second letter ^^, which enclosed the copy ^^ of the 
Declaration, was dated (probably) the 5th. 

The Declaration was entered in full on the minutes and 
was then — together with the letters and the note — re- 
ferred to a committee, composed of Jay, Abraham Yates, 
John Sloss Hobart, Abraham Brasher and William Smith. 

The committee reported a resolution ^^ that very evenings 
which was at once adopted. It read : " Resolved, unan- 
imously. That the reasons assigned by the Continental 
Congress for declaring the United Colonies free and in- 
dependent States, are cogent and conclusive ; and that 

186 



ITS HISTORT 

while we lament the cruel necessity which has rendered that 
measure unavoidable, we approve the same, and will, at the 
risk of our lives and fortunes, join with the other colonies 
in supporting it. Resolved, That a copy of said Declara- 
tion, and the aforegoing Resolution, be sent to the Chair- 
man of the Committee of the County of Westchester, 
with orders to publish the same with beat of drum, at 
this place, on Thursday next, and to give directions that 
it be published with all convenient speed in the several 
Districts within the said County, and that copies thereof 
be forthwith transmitted to the other ^^ County Commit- 
tees within the State of New- York, with orders to cause 
the same to be published in the several Districts of their re- 
spective Counties. Resolved, That five hundred copies ^* 
of the Declaration of Independence, with the two last- 
mentioned Resolutions of this Congress for approving 
and proclaiming the same, be published in handbills, and 
sent to all the County Committees in this State. Re- 
solved, That the Delegates of this State in Continental 
Congress, be, and they are hereby, authorized to consent 
to and adopt all such measures as they may deem con- 
ducive to the happiness and welfare of the United States 
of America. Ordered, That copies of the aforesaid 
Resolutions be transmitted^^ to the Continental Congress." 



We have already ^^ followed the course of events in 
Pennsylvania to the close of the 7th of June — the day 
when R. H. Lee introduced into Congress the initial 
resolution respecting independence. 

On the next day (Saturday), the Assembly " resumed 
the consideration of the Instructions to the Delegates of 

187 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

this Province in Congress ; which, being gone through, 
and approved of ^^ , were ordered to be transcribed. A 
Member proposed to the House, and read in his place, a 
resolution, as a further instruction to the Delegates ; 
which, being seconded, was postponed to Tuesday next 
for consideration." 

Meanwhile — on Monday, the loth — , the military 
met ^^, both in Philadelphia and elsewhere in the Colony. 
Of the First and Second Battalions, one thousand persons 
were present, and, "^^with only 24 dissentients in the 
First, and two in the Second Battalion," approved the 
resolution of Congress of May 15th and the proceedings 
of the public gathering of the 20th. At the meeting of 
the Third Battalion, the Lieutenant-Colonel refused to put 
the questions proposed to the First and Second ; and this 
" gave great umbrage to the men, one of whom replied to 
him in a genteel spirited manner : ' How our Delegates 
in Congress may act we know not, though we have a 
right to know, and intend to promote an inquiry for that 
purpose. The Counties, such as we have heard from, 
are for a Convention. The Committee of Bucks County 
have appointed Deputies to the Conference to be held in 
this City on the i8th instant.'" The Fourth Battalion 
assembled " on the usual place of parade " — the Colonel 
(M:Kean) and the other officers and the privates of nine 
companies being present. MiKean " informed them 
that since he had proposed this meeting ... he had 
been waited upon " with a resolution of the 6th of the 
committee of privates of the five battalions and that he 
was happy " to find that his own idea of the propriety of 
this measure was supported by so respectable a body as 

188 



ITS HISTORY 

the Committee of Privates." The resolution of Congress 
of May 15th and the proceedings of the public meeting 
on the 20th were then read and unanimously approved. 
Following this, the question was put, " Whether they 
wish the Province of Pennsylvania to be a free and 
independent State, and united with the other twelve 
Colonies represented in Congress ? " ; and this also was 
carried unanimously in the affirmative. Similar evidence 
of loyalty to the cause was given by the Fifth Battalion, 
of which Timothy Matlack was Colonel, by the First 
Battalion of Chester County, of which Moore was 
Colonel, and by Colonel James Crawford's Battalion, 
which met at its place of parade in Leacock Township, 
Lancaster County. 

This meeting (of the military) had a great effect upon 
the Assembly. Neither in the morning nor in the after- 
noon had they a quorum; and, on the nth — the day 
to which the " further instruction to the Delegates " had 
been postponed and the day on which Congress selected 
a committee to draft the Declaration of Independence — 
and on the 12th also — both in the morning and in the 
afternoon — , they met, and still without a quorum. On 
the morning of the 13th, again nothing was done ; and, 
in the afternoon, there was again no quorum. The next 
day (Friday, the 14th), they paid the Delegates to Con- 
gress ; and, at 3 o'clock, "The Instructions . . . being 
transcribed according to order, were signed by the Speaker 
[John Morton] . . ." These read as follows : " When, 
by our instructions of last November, v/e strictly enjoined 
you, inbehalf of this Colony, to dissent from, and utterly 
reject any proposition, should such be made, that might 

189 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

cause or lead to a separation from Great Britain . . . 
our restrictions [arose] . . . from an earnest desire to 
serve the good people of Pennsylvania with fidelity . . . 
The situation of publick affairs is since so greatly altered, 
that we now think ourselves justifiable in removing the 
restrictions laid upon you by those instructions." They 
then adjourned ^^ to August 26th at 4 o'clock. 

The Provincial Conference of the committees of 
Pennsylvania met in Carpenters* Hall four days later 
(June 1 8th), " in consequence of a Circular Letter from 
the Committee of the City and Liberties of Philadelphia, 
enclosing a Resolution of the Continental Congress of 
the 15th -May last." M:Kean, Matlack, Rush, John 
Bull and James Smith were among those present. 
M:Kean, as chairman of the " City Committee, de- 
clared the motives which had induced that Committee to 
propose the hearing " and was then chosen President. 

On the 19th, 97 members being present, the resolution 
of Congress of May 15th was approved; and it was 
resolved " That the present Government of this Province 
is not competent to the exegencies of our affairs . . . 
That it is necessary that a Provincial Convention be 
called by this Conference for the express purpose of 
forming a new Government in this Province, on the 
authority of the People only." 

On the 23d ("P. M."), "On motion, [it was] 
unanimously ^^ Ordered, That the Chairman, Dr. Rush, 
and Colonel Smith, be a Committee to draft a Resolution 
declaring the sense of the Conference with respect to the 
Independence of this Province on the Crown and Parlia- 
ment of Great Britain, and report to-morrow morning." 

190 



ITS HISTORT 

The proceedings of the Conference for June 24th 
("P. M.") show that the committee "brought in a 
draft of a Declaration on the subject of . . . Independ- 
ence . . . which was ordered to be read, by special 
order. The same was read a second time, and, being 
fully considered, it was, with the greatest unanimity of 
all the Members, agreed to . . .'* This draft declared 
" our willingness to concur in a vote of the Congress 
declaring the United Colonies free and independent 
States " ; and it was " Ordered, that this Declaration be 
signed at the table and that the President deliver it in 
Congress/* It was read in Congress on the evening of 
the 25th.^^ 

Nothing further occurred in Pennsylvania until Mon- 
day, July 8th ^^ — four days after the adoption of the 
Declaration by Congress. On that day, the elections 
were held for Delegates to the Convention. John 
Adams, writing, July 10th, to his wife, says: "The 
new Members of this city [Philadelphia] are all . . . 
chosen because of their inflexible zeal for Independence. 
All the old Members left out because they opposed 
Independence, or at least were lukewarm about it, 
Dickinson, Morris, Allen, all fallen, like grass before the 
scythe notwithstanding all their vast advantages in point 
of fortune, family, and abilities ... I am inclined to 
think, however, and to wish that these gentlemen may be 
restored at a fresh election, because, although mistaken 
in some points, they are good characters, and their great 
wealth and numerous connexions will contribute to 
strengthen America, and cement her Union. I wish I 
were at perfect liberty to portray before you all these 

191 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

characters in their genuine lights, and to explain to you 
the course of political changes in this Province. It 
would give you a great idea of the spirit and resolution 
of the people, and show you, in a striking point of view, 
the deep roots of American Independence in all the 
Colonies." 

The Convention, which took its power direct from the 
people^ met in the State House on Monday, July 15th — 
the day when the new instructions to the New York 
Delegates were read by Hancock to Congress. Frank- 
lin, James Smith, Clymer and Ross were among those 
present. Franklin^ was chosen President. On the 
20th, it elected ^^ Franklin, Ross^^ Clymer ^^ Robert 
Morris ^ Wilson, Morton, Rush^^^^ James Smith ^^^^ 
and George Taylor ^"^ as Delegates to Congress. Accord- 
ing to the Journal, they produced their credentials in 
Congress on the same day.^ 

A committee composed of Matlack, Thomas Smith, 
James Cannon, David Rittenhouse and Bull was ap- 
pointed — also on the 20th — to draft instructions. 
These instructions, adopted on the 26th, strictly charged 
the Delegates " not to agree to, or enter into any treaty 
of commerce or alliance with Great Britain, or any other 
foreign Power, but (on the part of America) as free and 
independent States." 

On the 25th, the Convention approved of the " Dec- 
laration of Congress of the 4th " and declared " that we 
will support and maintain the freedom and independence 
of this and the other United States of America at the 
utmost risk of our lives and fortunes." 



192 



ITS HISTORT 



IX 

THE SIGNING 

M:KEAN maintains that " no person signed " 
the Declaration on July 4th ; and his views, 
as set forth in ^ a letter ^ to Messrs. Wm. 
M'Corkle & Son and in a letter^ to John Adams, were 
published in Niks' Weekly Register (N) of June 28 and 
July 12*, respectively, 18 17. The latter letter, written 
in January, 18 14, when, as he himself declares, his sight 
was fading fast, though his writing might not discover 
it, says : 

[Qy] I will give you an historical fact respecting the declara- 
tion of Independence, which may amuse, if not surprize. 

in the 

On the V) of July 1776 the question was taken fey^ com- 
mittee of the whole of Congress, when Pennsylvania, represented 
by seven members then present, voted against it ; 4 to 3 ; among 
the majority were Robert Morris & John Dickinson. Delaware 
having only two present, namely myself & M"^ Read, was 
divided : all ^ the other States voted in favor of it. The report 
was delayed until the 4^!^ ^ and in the mean time I sent an express ^ 
for Caesar Rodney ^ to Dover in the county of Kent in Dela- 
ware, at my private expence, whom I met at the State-house door 
on the 4*^ of July in his boots ^; he resided eighty miles from the 
city, and just arrived as Congress met. The question was taken, 
Delaware voted in favor of Independence ^^, Pennsylvania there be- 
ing only five members present, Mess? Dickinson ^^ & Morrisea ^^ 
13 193 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

absent voted also for it ; Mess? Willing & Humphries ^^ were 
against it. Thus the thirteen States were unanimous ^* in favor 
of Indepence. Notwithstanding this, in the printed public jour- 
nal of Congress for 1776, vol. 2, it appears, that the Declaration 

declared 

of Independence was - signed on the 4*? of July 1776 by the 
Gentlemen, whose names are there inserted ^^, whereas no person 
signed ^^ it on that day, and among the names there inserted, one 
gentleman, namely George Read Esquire, was not in favor of it ; 
and seven were not in Congress on that day, namely Mess? 
Morris, Rush, Clymer, Smith, Taylor & Ross, all of Pennsyl- 
vania, and M; Thornton of New-Hampshire ; nor were the six 
Gentlemen last named members of Congress on the 4^!* of July. 
The five for Pennsylvania were appointed Delegates by the Con- 
vention of that State on the 20\^ Juty> ^^^ M! Thornton took 
his seat in Congress for the first time on the 4\^ November 
following: when the names of Henry Wisner^'' of New- York 
and Thomas M^Kean ^^ of Delaware, are not printed as sub- 
scribers, tho' both were present in Congress on the 4^^ of July 
& voted for Independence. 

Here false colours are certainly hung out ; there is culpability 
somewhere : what I have heard as an explanation is as follows ; 
when the declaration was voted, it was ordered to be ingrossed 
on parchment and then signed, and that a few days afterw*^.® a 
resolution was entered ^^ on the secret journal, that no person 
should have a seat in Congress during that year until he should 
have signed the declaration of independence. After the 4\^20 
July I was not in congress for several months ^^, having marched 
with a regiment of associators as Colonel to support General 
Washington, until the flying camp of ten thousand men was com- 
pleted. When the associators were discharged, I returned to 
Philadelphia, took my seat in Congress & signed my name to 
the declaration on parchment.^^ This transaction should be truly 
stated, and the then secret journal should be made public. In 

194 



ITS HISTORT 

the manuscript journal, M[ Pickering, then Secretary of State, and 
myself saw a printed half sheet oi paper ^^, with the names of the 
members afterwards in the printed journals stitched in. We ex- 
amined the parchment where my name is signed in my own 
hand-writing. — 

Jefferson's notes^ however, say : 

24 the debates having taken up the greater parts of the 2f 3^ & 4* 
days of July were, in the evening of the last, closed ^5 the declara- 
tion was reported by the comrnee ^^^ agreed to by the house and 

presents? 

signed by every member^except rnr Dickinson. 

Indeed, in a letter to Samuel W. Wells, written (In 
1 8 19) two years after the publication^^ of the letters of 
M:Kean, he quotes these notes and says that the Dec- 
laration " was signed by every member present, except 
mr Dickinson ", on July 4th. 

Wells, at Boston, had written him, under date of April 
14th : " [S] The imperfect record of the proceedings of 
the congresses prior to the Declaration of Independence, 
has buried in obscurity much important information . . . 
Thus we are taught to believe that the question of the 
declaration was passed unanimously ; but by mr Gal- 
loways examination before a Committee of the British 
parliament on American affairs, an account of which was 
published in London in 1779, ^^ appears: ^That the 
debates lasted nearly a fortnight and when the question 
was put, six Colonies divided against six ; the delegates 
for Pennsylvania being also divided, the question re- 
mained undecided. However, one of the members of 
that colony who had warmly opposed it being wrought 
up by mr [Samuel] Adams' art, changed his opinioa, 

195 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

and upon the question the next day it was carried in the 
affirmative by a single vote only/ This is a very differ- 
ent account from that given in the printed journals, which 
we know to be incorrect particularly as it respects the 
time when it is stated to have been passed and the signa- 
tures attached to it ... It has been stated . . . That 
on the question of the Declaration of Independence, he 
[Samuel Adams] spoke several hours, and that the argu- 
ments he adduced in its support were so cogent and con- 
clusive, that he brought over some of those who were 
against it, and thereby secured its success ? These as- 
sertions were made by the late Judge Paine. — ** 

Jefferson's letter^, dated Monticello, May I2th, is 
as follows : 

[P] An absence of some time at an occasional and distant 
residence must apologise for the delay in acknodging the receipt 
of your favor of Apr. 12. and candor obliges me to add that it 
has been somewhat extended by an aversion to writing, as well 
as to calls on my memory for facts so much obliterated from it by 
time as to lessen my own confidence in the traces which seem 
to remain . . . 

I will now proceed to your quotation from riiT Galloway's 
statement of what passed in Congress on their declaration of 
independance in which statement there is not one word of truth, 

some 

and where bearing^resemblance to truth, it is an entire perversion 
of it, I do not charge this on rnr Galloway himself, his deser- 
tion having taken place ^^ long before these measures, he doubt- 
less^^ received his information from some of the loyal friends 
he left behind him, but as yourself as well as others appear 
embarrassed by inconsistent accounts of the proceedings on that 
memorable occasion, and as those ^ who have endeavored to 
restore the truth have themselves committed some errors, I will 

196 



ITS HIS TORT 

give you some extracts from a written document^ on that 
subject ; for the truth of which I pledge myself to heaven and 
earth; having, while the question of Independance was under 
consideration before Congress, taken written notes, in my seat, 
of what was passing, and reduced them to form on the final 
conclusion. I have now before me that paper, from which the 
following are extracts. 

'On Friday the 7*!^ of June 1776. the delegates from Virginia 
moved, in obediance to instructions from their constituents, that 
the Congress should declare that these United colonies are, and 
of right ought to be, free & independant states ; that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, & that all 
political connection between them and the state of Gr. Britain 
is, & ought to be totally dissolved ; that measures should be 
immediately taken for procuring the assistance of foreign powers, 
and a Confederation be formed to bind the colonies more closely 
together, the house being obliged to attend at that time to some 
other business, the proposition was referred to the next day when 
the members were ordered to attend punctually at ten oclock. 
Saturday June 8. they proceeded to take it into consideration, 
and referred it to a committee of the whole, into which they 
immediately resolved themselves, & passed that day and Monday 
the 10^^ in debating on the subject. 

It appearing in the course of these debates that the colonies 
of New York, New Jersey, Pensylva, Delaware, Maryland 5c 
South Carolina were not yet matured for falling from the parent 
stem, but that they were fast advancing to that state, it was 
thought most prudent to wait awhile for them, and to postpone 
the fine! decision to July i. but, that this might occasion as little 
delay as possible, a committee was appointed to prepare a Declara- 
tion of Independance. the committee were J. Adams. Dl" Frank- 
lin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston and myself, this was 
reported to the house on Friday the 28^!* of June when it was 

197 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

read and ordered to lie on the table, on Monday the V} of July 
the house resolved itself into a committee of the whole, and 
resumed the consideration of the original motion made by the 
delegates of Virginia, which being again debated thro' the day, 
was carried in the affirmative by the votes of N. Hampshire, 
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode-island, N. Jersey, Maryland, 
Virginia, N. Carolina and Georgia. South Carolina and Pensyl- 
vania voted against it. Delaware having but two members pres- 
ent, they were divided, the delegates from N. York declared 
they were for it themselves, and were assured their constituents 
were for it; but that their instructions having been drawn near 
a twelve-month before, when reconciliation was still the general 
object, they were enjoined by them to do nothing which should 
impede that object. they therefore thought themselves not 
justifiable in voting on either side, & asked leave to withdraw 

from the question, which was given them, the Committee rose, 

d 
and reported their resolution to the house, mr Rutlege of S. 

A 

Carolina then requested the determination might be put ofF 
to the next day, as he believed his colleagues, tho' they disap- 
proved of the resolution, would then join in it for the sake of 
unanimity, the ultimate question whether the House would agree 
to the resolution of the Committee was accordingly postponed 
to the next day, when it was again moved & South CaroHna 
concurred in voting for it, in the meantime a 3"^ member had 
come post from the Delaware counties, and turned the vote 
of that colony in favor of the resolution, members of a differ- 
ent sentiment attending that morning from Pensylvania also, 
their vote was changed ; so that the whole 1 2. colonies, who 
were authorised to vote at all, gave their votes for it, and 
within a few days [July 9.]"^^ the convention of N. York 
approved of it, and thus supplied the void occasioned by the with- 
drawing of their delegates from the vote.' [be careful -that to ob- 
serve that this vacillation and vote was on the original motion of 

198 



ITS HI ST CRT 

the 7^^* of June by the Virginia delegates that Congress should de- 
clare the colonies independant.] ' Congress proceeded the same 
day to consider the Declaration of Independance which had been 
reported and laid on the table the Friday preceding, and on Mon- 
day referred to a Committee of the whole, the pusillanimous idea 
that we had friends in England worth keeping terms with, still 
haunted the minds of many, for this reason those passages which 
conveyed censures on the people of England were struck out, 
lest they should give them offence. — the debates having taken 
up the greater parts of the 2I 3"! and 4^'^ days of July, were, in 
the evening of the last, closed : the Declaration was reported by 
the Committee, agreed to by the House, and signed by every 

present 

member^^except mr Dickinson.' so far my notes. 

Governor M^Kean^, in his letter ^6 to M^Corkle of July [June] 
16. 18 1 7. has thrown some lights on the transactions of that day : 
but trusting to his memory chiefly at an age when our memories 
are not to be trusted, he has confounded two questions, and as- 
cribed proceedings to one which belonged to the other, these 
two questions were i. the Virginia motion which was vofecd on - 
that day , of June 7. to declare independance, and 2. the actual 
Declaration, its matter and form, thus he states the question on 
the declaration itself as decided on the V} of July — but it 

was the Virginia motion which was voted on that day in commit- 
then 
tee of the whole; South Carolina, as well as Pensylvania^voting 

against it. but the ultimate decision in the House on the report 
of the committee being by request postponed to the next morn- 
ing, all the states voted for it, except New York, whose vote was 
delayed for the reason before stated, it was not till the 2^ of July 
that the Declaration itself was taken up ; nor till the 4^^ that it 
was decided; and it was signed by every ^^ member present ^^, 
except mr Dickinson. 

The subsequent signatures of members who were not then 
present, and some of them not yet in office, is easily explained, if 

199 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

we observe who they were ; to wit that they were of N. York 
and Pensylvania. N. York^^ did not sign till the 15^!"^ because 
it was not till the 9^!**^ (5.days after the general signature) that 
their Convention authorised them to do so. the Convention of 
Pensylvania, learning that it had been signed by a minority ^^ only 
of their delegates, named a new delegation^ on the 20^ leaving 
out^ riir Dickinson who had refused ^^ to sign. Willing ^^ & 
Humphreys who had withdrawn, reappointing the 3. members 
who had signed, Morris who had not been present^", & 5 new 
ones, to wit. Rush, Clymer, Smith, Taylor & Ross : and Morris 
and the 5 new members were permitted to sign^^, because it 
manifested the assent of their full delegation, and the express 
will of their convention, which might have been doubted on the 
former signature of a minority only, why the signature*^ of 
Thornton of New Hampshire was permitted so late as the 4^!^ of 
November, I cannot now say ; but undoubtedly for some particular 
reason ^^, which we should find to have been good had it been 
expressed, these were the only ^^ post-signers, and you see. Sir, 
that there were solid reasons for receiving those of N. York and 

that 

Pensylvania, and^^this circumstance, in no wise affects the faith of 
this Declaratory charter of our rights, and of the rights of man. 

With a view to correct errors of fact before they become in- 
veterate by repetition, I have stated what I find essentially ma- 
terial in my papers, but with that brevity which the labor of 
writing constrains me to use. 

Wells writes again, June 2d : " [S] The information 
which you were so kind as to communicate to me . . . 
has explained some circumstances that were confused and 
mysterious ; among them is the fact that mr R. R. Liv- 
ingston who was one of the committee selected to draft 
the declaration, was not among the number of its signers ; 
and it is still rather a singular occurrence, that he should 

200 



ITS HIS TORT 

have consented to be one of a Committee, whose pro- 
ceedings he did not conceive that the instructions of his 
constituents would authorize him to approve of. The 
error into which governor M^Kean had fallen on this 
subject, may also have been, in part, that of mr Galloway, 
viz. the confounding of the declaration^ with the motion 
for independence. Your letter informs me, that in the 
course of the debates this motion that six Colonies ' were 
not yet matured for falling from the parent stem, but as 
they were fast advancing to that state, it was thought 
prudent to wait awhile for them, and to postpone the 
final decision to July i.' Although it does not appear 
by this, that a vote was taken upon the question at this 
time yet, I conclude there must have been as I cannot 
see how the state of opinion could otherwise be accurately 
obtained ... If this be fact, it must be true, that the 
motion for independence was passed by a majority of one 
vote only. Before I had seen the statement of mr Gallo- 
way, I had been informed by many persons who yet live, 
of some remarks that were made by the late Judges Paine 
and Chase of nearly the same import, as it regarded my 
grandfather, and I concluded that mr Galloway had 
nearly given the particulars of the case. But he was evi- 
dently wrong in stating that the vote which was deter- 
mined in favor of the question, was that of Pennsylvania. 
It may have been Georgia, or North Carolina. If, there- 
fore, this question in its first stage^ was determined by the 
vote of one Colony, it may have been effected by the 
vote of one delegate of any particular Colony that may 
have been equally divided, and this vote obtained as he 
states, by the exertions of some member, who was par- 

201 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

ticularly ardent in its favor. If, then, either Georgia, or 
North Carolina, which are the only two Colonies that I 
can think it probable any division of sentiment existed 
[in^^] had been named instead of Pennsylvania, mr Gallo- 
ways statement could then have been reconciled to yours, 
which must be considered the only standard . . . The 
painting ^^ executed by col. Trumbull, representing the 
Congress at the declaration of independence, will, I fear, 
have a tendency to obscure the history of the event which 
it is designed to commemorate ... I confess, that I am 
not a little surprised at the favorable reception, which this 
badly executed performance has met, from the public. I 
will frankly avow that I was much disappointed at not 
finding it (according to my idea) executed in a style 
worthy of the subject. I expressed my opinions with 
freedom on the work, through the medium of the news- 
papers under the signature of Historicus ... It was by 
investigating this subject, that I discovered the discrepan- 
cies in the printed journals, of Congress on this memora- 
ble event ..." 

To this, Jefferson responds, June 23d : " [P] you 
suppose that the fact that six colonies were not yet ma- 
tured for a separation from the parent stock could not 
have been known unless a vote had been taken, yet noth- 
ing easier, for the opinion of every individual was known 
to every one who had anxiety enough on the subject to 
scrutinise and calculate, there was neither concealment 
nor reserve on the subject on either side ; and how the 
vote of each colony would be, if then pushed to a vote 
was exactly ascertainable ... I certainly will not, on 
the authority of memory alone affirm facts in opposition 



202 



ITS HISTORT 

to rnr Galloway, judge MfKain, or any one else, but 
what I wrote on the paper from which I sent extracts to 
you, was written on the spot, in the moment, and is true ; 
and all that remains is to reconcile to that the contra- 
dictions of others . . . Galloway can be no better 
authority than the common herd of passengers in the 
streets, he knew nothing but the rumors of hearsay : 
for he had quitted us long before, and nir M?Kain 
was very old, and his memory much decayed when he 
gave his statement. The painting lately executed by 
Col° Trumbull, I have never seen . . ." 

On August 6, 1822, he adds to the copy of his first 
letter to Wells the following : 

1822 
[S] P. S. Aug. 6.^ since the date of this letter, to wit this 

day Aug. 6. 22 I receive the new publication of the Secret 

of July 19. 1776 

Journals of Congress, wherein it is stated a Resoln^that the 
Declaration passed on the 4^!^ be fairly engrossed on parchment, 
and when engrossed, be signed by every member, and another 
of Aug. 2. that being engrossed and compared at the table was 
signed by the members, that is to say the copy engrossed on 
parchment (for durability) was signed by the members after being 
compared at the table with the original one signed on paper ^* as 
before stated ^^ I add this P. S. to the copy of my letter to 
mr Wells to prevent confounding the signature of the original 
with that of the copy engrossed on parchment. 

These contradictory statements of M:Kean and Jeffer- 
son — both of whom were present in Congress on July 
4th — have very naturally given rise to much dispute 
and many lengthy arguments.^ 

Our own opinion is that Jefferson is mistaken. 

203 



BECLJRATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Neither the rough^"^ nor the corrected^^ Journal men- 
tions any signing on July 4th ; nor does the printed copy 
of the Declaration wafered into the rough Journal (except 
that of the President) or the Declaration as embodied in 
the corrected Journal show the name of a single member. 

The secret domestic Journal (also formerly in the De- 
partment of State but now in the Library of Congress) — 
beginning with June 7th — contains no entries whatever 
except for June 24th and July Sth, i ith, 17th and 19th; 
nor thence ^^ until November 27th : and the entry for the 
19th only^^ bears upon the subject of independence. 

This entry ^^, evidently in the handwriting of Thomson, 
is as follows : 

[S] July 19. 1776 

61 Resolved That the Declaration passed on the 4*^ be fairly en @ 
+ 

[The following is along the left margin of the page, 
lengthwise, from top to bottom:] 

+ © grossed on parchment with the title and stile of " The 
Unanimous Declaration of the 13 United States of America" 
and that the same when engrossed be signed by every member 
of Congress. — 

^N P Aug. 2. 1776. The declaration of Independence being engrossed 
& compared at the table was signed by the Members. 

Indeed, we believe that the greater portion (of the 
statements of fact) of page 7^^ of Jefferson's notes was not 
based upon anything as taken " in my seat " " while the 
question of Independance was under consideration before 
Congress," but that it was composed from memory, or 
from memory and the printed Journal, at the time (the 
exact date of which we do not know^) of reducing them 

204 




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I- i ^ 



t^J. 



3^1 1 






/'in 



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y //r>;- ci^J.^a^ / cr^. //^ </^r£ 






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Page 7 of Jeffersi 
are now in the Libr: 
inserted, bv Jefferson, 
Wells, May 12, 1819- 
in that letter. 



bound as a part of his ^ufohh.raphy and 
The word "present "as 
(See p. 196) to Samuel A. 



in's notes, which are 

ry of Congress, in Washington. 

"t^nrf^L^^ite ^'tS^^terlined in the n.cs as g.ven 



ITS HISTORT 

" to form on the final conclusion ". We believe espe- 
cially that "and signed by eve-ry member^ except nri? 
Dickinson " was a general statement, not carefully con- 
sidered or in any way investigated. 

More than this, we believe that, if^ at the time of 
reducing the notes "to form", Jefferson had in mind that 
the Declaration was signed on parchment on August 2d 
and was not simply following what he might readily take 
to be the meaning of the printed Journal, he wrote the 
words "and signed" without any intention that they 
should be governed by the words " in the evening of 
the last"^^; and that his Declaration "on paper" 
(August 6, 1822) was the result of his perusal of the 
printed secret domestic Journal — showing that the Decla- 
ration on parchment was signed on August 2d — and of the 
necessity to make his letter of May 12, 18 19, to Wells 
conform to this fact. 

Certain it is that he first mentioned a Declaration " on 
paper " on the slip ^^ which he added to the notes after 
the writing of this letter to Wells and in the above post- 
script to the letter. 

Moreover, John Adams writes ^^ — to Chase from 
Philadelphia, July 9 th — but five days after the adoption of 
the Declaration : " [QyC] As soon as an American Seal is 
prepared, I conjecture the Declaration will be subscribed 
by all the Members, which will give you the Opportu- 
nity you wish^^ for, of transmitting your Name, among 
the Votaries of Independence." 

Also, Gerry — who, as we shall see, John Adams 
writes, Monday, July 15th, "Setts off, tomorrow, for 
Boston," after the Declaration had become unanimous 

205 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

by the sanction of New York — writes, to Samuel and 
John Adams from Kingsbridge, July 21st: " [SA] I 
have been fully employed since Thursday Noon in ob- 
taining some Knowledge of y^ State of y^ Army & con- 
ferring w^l" y*' different Corps of Officers from y^ General 
to y^ Field Officers, & have y' pleasure to inform You 
that they appear to be in high Spirits for Action & agree 
in Sentiments that y^ Men are as firm & determined as 
they wish them to be, having in View since y^ Declara- 
tion of Independence an Object that they are ready to 
contend for, an Object that they will chearfully pursue at 
y^ Risque of Life & every valuable Enjoyment ... It 
seems that Lord Howe is sorry that he did not arrive 
a Day or two before & thinks he could have prevented 
y^ Declaratn of Independence . . . Pray subscribe for 
me y^ Declaration of Independence if y^ same is to be 
signed ,„as proposed. I think We ought to have y^ privi- 
lege when necessarily absent of voting and signing by 
proxy.'* 

The facts, too, that the New York delegation were 
not authorized — on July 4th — to vote at all upon the 
question of independence, that the broadsides printed 
in July, 1776, do not bear the names of signers and 
that the authenticated copy of the Declaration printed 
by order of Congress bears the signatures (except 
M :Kean's) of those who signed the Declaration on 
parchment speak strongly against any signing on that 
day. 

John Adams himself, however, in a letter to"^^ Mercy 
Warren, written at Quincy, February 2, 1 8 14^^ and refer- 
ring to M:Kean*s letter to him of January (18 14), says 

206 



ITS HISTORT 

(though perhaps he*^^ was led so to state by misreading "^^ 
the printed Journal): " [QyC] I send you a curiosity. 
Mr M Kean, is mistaken in a day or two, the final vote 
for Independence after the last debate, was passed on the 
2"^^ or third of July, and the declaration prepared, and 
signed on the 4'^ What are we to think of history ? 
when in less than 40 years, such diversities appear in the 
memories of living persons who were witnesses. After 
noting what you please, I pray you to return ^^ the letter, 
I should like to communicate^^ it to Gerry, Paine, and 
Jefferson, to stir up their pure minds. The unanimity 
of the nation in Independence, so modestly boasted now, 
by the tories, is too gross to impose upon all." 

Also, Franklin, under date of July 4, 1786, writes, to 
Mrs. Jane Mecom : "[X] There is much rejoicing in 
town to-day, it being the anniversary of the Declaration 
of Independence, which we signed this day ten years, 
and thereby hazarded lives and fortunes." 

Also, there is now in the New York Public Library 
(Lenox) a copy of the Journal of Congress for 1776 
" PRINTED AND SOLD BY R. AITKEN, BOOK- 
SELLER, FRONT-STREET, M,DCC,LXXVII " 
which contains the following marginal notes in ink, after 
the following printed names respectively : 

Matthew Thornton, signed [?] 
A= 177= 

William Floyd, y 
Philip Livingston, I signed 
Francis Lewis, J July 15 



Lewis Morris. 



207 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

On a slip of paper pasted on the Inside of the first cover, 
in the handwriting of Paul Leicester Ford, is the follow- 
ing : " Charles Thomson's own copy of the Journal of 
Congress, with autographic notes on fly leaves in his hand- 
writing and two very important marginal notes, relating 
to the Declaration of Independence, at p. 245 P. L. F." 

An examination of these " notes on fly leaves " indi- 
cates that some, and perhaps all, are in the handwriting 
of Thomson, as stated ; but the " two very important 
marginal notes,'' if in Thomson's handwriting, were evi- 
dently written by him when advanced in years : and we 
know that he lived until August 16, 1824. 



The question whether M:Kean or Jeflferson is right 
does not affect, however, the signing ^^ of the Declaration 
on parchment ^^ — now in the Department of State. 

The Journal tells us that Congress, on July 19th, 

passed on the 4^" 

Resolved "^^ That the Declaration^be fairly engrossed on parch- 
ment with the title and stile of " The unanimous declaration of 
the thirteen united states of America" & that the same when 
engrossed be signed by every member of Congress. ^ 

and that, on August 2d '^^^ 

^^The declaration of independance being enerossed & com- 
pared ^^ at the table was signed 

Jared Sparks relates ^ the following anecdote " re- 
specting an incident which took place when the members 
were about to sign the Declaration. ' We must be 
unanimous,' said Hancock; 'there must be no pulling 
different ways ; we must all hang together.' ' Yes,' 

208 



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Coppcrplatc fncsimllc, made in 1823 (See pp. 280 and 2go), of the Declaration 
on parchment, now in the Library of the Department of State, in Washinirton. The 
plate also is there. 



ITS HISTORT 

replied Franklin, ' we must, indeed, all hang together, 
or most assuredly we shall all hang separately/ " 

Hancock doubtless ^^ was the first ^ to sign. "He 
wrote his name where all nations should behold it, and 
all time should not efface it." Watson says: "[V] 
When John Hancock signed his name, he did it in a large 
strong hand, and rising from his seat, said, ' There ! 
John Bull can read my name without spectacles, and may 
now double his reward of £s^o for my head. That is 
my defiance.* " ^^ 

Hopkins' signature, on the contrary, is very infirm — 
a fact which has given rise to the belief that he trembled 
with fear, Sanderson says, however, that he was 
afflicted with the shaking palsy and that he scarcely 
ever wrote at all.^^ 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton, says John Adams in his 
letter of February i8, 1776, "is ... a gentleman of 
independent fortune, perhaps the largest in America — 
a hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand pounds 
sterling ; educated in some university in France, though 
a native of America, of great abilities and learning, com- 
plete master of the French language, and a professor of 
the Roman Catholick religion, yet a warm, a firm, a 
zealous supporter of the rights of America, in whose 
cause he has hazarded his all." It does not seem 
strange, therefore, that Sanderson writes : " [B] Mr. 
Hancock . . . during a conversation with Mr. Carroll, 
asked him if he would sign it [the Declaration]. ' Most 
willingly,' was the reply, and taking a pen, he at once 
put his name to the instrument. ' There goes a few 
milUons,' said one of those who stood by ; and all present 
14 209 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

at the time agreed, that in point of fortune, few risked 
more than Charles Carroll of Carrollton." " The story 
often repeated and as often denied," writes ^^ Kate Mason 
Rowland, "that Charles Carroll added ' of Carrollton ' to 
his signature, when jestingly reminded by one of his 
colleagues that there were others of his name in Mary- 
land, and he would therefore incur little risk [unless he 
added these words], though a pretty legend is, of course, 
not tenable as history. It has been seen that Charles 
Carroll had signed himself as ^ of Carrollton ' ^^ from the 
time of his return to America in 1765." 

All of those who appear as subscribers to the Declara- 
tion on parchment, however, did not sign on this day — 
August 2d. 

Thornton cannot have signed before November 4th ; 
for only then he appeared in Congress and produced 
his credentials. He was not elected even until Septem- 
ber 12th. He took the place of Langdon.^^ 

M:Kean also was a post-^\^w^r\ for Caesar Rodney 
writes ^°, from Philadelphia to Thomas Rodney (?), August 
8th : " [Tr] M.": M^Kean is Yet in the Jerseys, and not 
likely soon to return . . ." 

Indeed, M:Kean himself writes, to Alexander J. 
Dallas ^^ August 4, 1796: "I had not heard that the 
Instrument had been engrossed on parchment and signed 
until some weeks after I returned from Camp, and (I 
believe) until I returned from Newcastle, where I had 
been employed some weeks, as a member of the Con- 
vention chosen to form a new Government for that 
State ; but I subscribed my name to it in the presence 
of the Congress sometime in the year 1776." 

210 



ITS HISTORT 

The exact date ^^ of his signing, however, has never 
been ascertained. 

Gerry ^^ too was absent on August 2d. 

John Adams writes, from Philadelphia, to his wife, July 
I5th^; " [Qy] My very deserving Friend, M' Gerry, 
Setts off, tomorrow, for Boston, worn out of Health, 

by the Fatigues of this station He is an excellent 

Man, and an active able statesman. I hope he will 
soon return hither." Four days later, Joseph Trumbull 
writes from New York, to Hancock : "Mr. Gerry is 
here — better than when he left Philadelphia" ; and, on 
the 25th, he writes from the same place, to Samuel and 
John Adams : " [SA] Our Friend M' Gerry left us on 
Sunday in pretty good Health — " On the 25th, also, at 
8 o'clock in the evening, Mifflin — at "[SJCamp on 
Mount Washington" — writes, to Washington: "I have 
this Minute received a Letter from M' Gerry at Norwalk 
on his way to Boston." The next day (Friday), (Jona- 
than) Trumbull writes from Lebanon, to Williams : " Mr. 
Gerry keeps Sabbath here." 

Gerry himself — on his way back — writes, from Hart- 
ford, to Gates, August 24th : " [NY] I am here on my 
Journey to Philadelphia, from which I have been absent 
about a Month for Health . . ." He was chosen upon 
a committee on September 20th. 

Wolcott was another absentee. 

He left Philadelphia probably ^^ on June 27th ; "^^In 
a letter to his brother-in-law, Deputy-Governor Matthew 
Griswold, dated New York, July i . . . [he wrote] : ^I 
am on my way home for the recovery of my health ^^ and 
to see my family : for three weeks past^^ have been much 

211 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

unwell, owing, I suppose, to a too long confined way of 
living/ " ; and he arrived home doubtless ^^ on July 4th. 
On August 13th, Trumbull writes, from Lebanon to 
Washington : " [S] Immediately upon receipt of your 
Letter [dated the 7th] I Summoned my Council of Safety, 
and Ordered Nine Regiments of our Militia in addition 
to the Five Western Regiments, Fourteen in the whole 
to march without loss of Time and join you, under the 
Conaand of Oliver Wolcott Esq' Col- of the Regi- 

ment as their Brigadier General, who is appointed and 
Commissioned to that Office"; and, two days later, 
Wolcott — at Litchfield — replies : " I shall most cheer- 
fully render my country every service in my power, and 
am sorry my health is not better to go through the duties 
of a military life, and more so that my inexperience and 
want of knowledge in this service are so very consider- 
able . . r 

He returned to Philadelphia on October ist, as shown 
by a letter from him of that date from that city to his 
wife ; " [MsS] This morning I arrived safe in this City, 
with as much Health as when I left Home, tho' a little 
fatigued with a long Journey." 

Indeed, Lewis Morris, R. H. Lee^^ and Wythe ^^^ also 
had left Philadelphia and had not yet returned. 

Morris, as we have seen^^^, was in attendance upon the 
Convention of New York upon August 2d. 

Lee doubtless ^^^ departed on June 13th. 

His purpose seems to have been to attend upon the 
Convention.^^^ At least, we hear of him there on June 
29th^^* ; and he was in attendance there certainly also 
on July I St, 3d and 5th. On the last day, the Con- 

212 



ITS HISTORT 

vention adjourned to the first Monday of October. In 
fact, he himself writes from Williamsburg, to Samuel 
Adams, on July 6th : " [SA] A fortnights stay here has 
enabled me to assist my Countrymen in finishing our 
form of Government . . . Surely the great business of 
Independance and Foreign Alliance is rightly determined 
before now — 1 shall be rejoiced to hear it ... I leave 
this place today for Chantilly, where I shall remain until 
the last of August when I sett out for Congress." 

On the I5th^°^ of July, Samuel Adams writes to him, 
from Philadelphia : " [A] Pray hasten your Journey 
hither — your Country most pressingly solicists, or will 
you allow me to say, demands your Assistance here " ; 
on the next day, Francis Lightfoot Lee writes to him 
from the same city : " [N] I have written you every 
post, since you left this . . . The ii^-J' of next month 
Coif Harrison & Braxton are no longer delegates & as 
M' Jefferson is determined to go home then, we shall 
be without a representation, unless you join us. we have 
not heard when M' Wythe intends to be here. I have 
now got a very good house, near the State house, in 
which you may have choice of good rooms well fur- 
nished, except with beds, as we have but one, it is neces- 
sary we shoud know as soon as possible when to expect 
you, that we may provide for you. We have this house 
certainly till the last of Octl^ & a chance for the winter*' ; 
and, on the 30th ^^^, Chase also writes from Philadelphia 
to him — " [A] at Chantilly" : "Your Letter of the 14 
Inst: followed Me to this City, and your other favour 
of the 21'* was delivered by yesterdays Post." 

Meanwhile, on July 21st, and evidently before any of 

213 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

these letters was received, Lee, at Chantilly, writes also 
to Jefferson : " [S] Our Friend M' Wythe proposes to 
me by letter that I meet him at Hooes Ferry the j'l of 
September, and I have agreed to do so, unless some 
pressing call takes me to Congress sooner. Can you 
have patience so long ^^^ ? " 

On July 29th, still at Chantilly, he replies to Samuel 
Adams' letter : " [SA] I am much obliged to you for 
your favor by last post ... I hope to be with you soon 
after the middle of August." 

Jefferson writes to Page, August 5th : " [Tr] Colo Lee 
being unable to attend here till the 20'^^ inst. I am under 
the painful necessity of putting off my departure . . .'* 

On the 20th of August, Lee was at Belle View ; for, 
on that day, he writes thence, to Henry: "[Q] I am 
thus far on my way to Congress, having been sometime 
delayed by the slowness of the Workman that made 
my Carriage wheels, the old being quite shattered and 
useless." 

Indeed, Jefferson writes, as late as August 26th : 
" [Ms] Colo Lee being not yet come I am still here, 
& suppose I shall not get away till about this day se'n- 
night.^^^ I shall see you in Williamsburgh the morning 
of the Assembly " ; though Lee must have arrived in Phil- 
adelphia that same or the next day, for the Journal shows 
that he was chosen upon a committee on August 27th. 

Wythe would seem to have departed with Lee. As 
shown by Jefferson's notes, he was in Congress on either 
June 8th or loth or on both days. 

Certainly as early as June 29th (and on July ist, 2d, 
4th and 5th), however, he was in Williamsburg, in attend- 

214 



ITS HISTORT 

ance upon the Convention. Indeed, four days later (July 
9th), Pendleton — writing from "Caroline" — asks Jeffer- 
son to let him know the cost of some wire which Jeffer- 
son had purchased for him, " [S] that I may remit it by 
Mr. Wythe*'; on the 20th, Page — evidently at Wil- 
liamsburg — speaks of Wythe as though present ; and, 
on the 27th, Wythe himself writes from Williamsburg, 
to Jefferson : " [S] I had not reached this place before 
the appointment [June 20th] of delegates. An attempt 
to alter it as to you was made in vain^^^ ... I have 
directed a carriage to meet me at Hooe's Ferry the third 
of September.*' 

On September 14th, Bartlett writes from Philadelphia, 
to Whipple : " Mr. Wythe is come to Congress." 

Stockton also, it seems likely, was elsewhere when, in 
the main, the Declaration on parchment was signed ; for, 
on July 19th, he writes from Trenton, to Jefferson : 
" [S] Upon my arrival at this place I waited upon 
the New Jersey Convention — and proposed to them 
the agreeing to furnish 2000 men for the increase of the 
flying Camp . . ." We know, however, that he was 
chosen upon a committee in Congress on August 9th. 

It even is possible that Gwinnett did not sign oh the 
2d ; for the Journal for that day says that Congress 
" Resolved that M' Walton be appointed a member of 
the marine committee in the room of M' Gwinnet, who 
is absent." It is not at all unlikely, however, that he 
signed with the others and absented himself later in the 
day. At least, he must have signed on or about the 2d : 
for John Adams* debates show that he was present in 
Congress on July 26th; Thomas Jones writes to James 

215 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Iredell from Halifax^ N. C, August I'jth : "[I] As to 
news from the North, the following is nearly the sub- 
stance, and which may be depended upon, as I had it 
from Mr. Gwinet, a countryman of ours from Glouces- 
tershire on his return from the Continental Congress, 
of which he is one of the delegates for the State of 
Georgia " ; and Charles C. Jones, Jr., says ^^^ that, on 
August 30th, Gwinnett presented to the Council of 
Safety, in Georgia, certified copies of certain resolutions 
passed by Congress on July 24th, that he became a 
member of the Council on October 7th, that he was 
elected President of the new government (of Georgia) 
on March 4, 1777, and that he engaged in a duel in 
May and died a few days later from the wound he then 
received. Indeed, — though the Convention, on Octo- 
ber 9th (1776), reelected Houston, Lyman Hall, Gwin- 
nett and Walton and elected Nathan Brownson — only 
Hall and Walton signed the following letter, dated De- 
cember loth, to Hancock: " [SJ We have received 
accounts of our reappointment to represent the state of 
Georgia in Congress, and will be ready to take our seats 
in a day or two ^^^ ", and we find no record of the attend- 
ance upon Congress of Gwinnett following July ■26th. 

Nor are we certain (though it is probable"^) that Wil- 
liams had arrived by the 2d; for Charles J. Hoadly 
writes ^^^ : " William Williams charged for attending 
Congress from July 22 to Nov. 21, 1776, 123 days. 
These are the dates of his setting out from home and 
of his return again; for on July 22 he was in Hart- 
ford, on his way to Philadelphia, and gave a receipt 
to the Treasurer of the Colony for money advanced. 

216 



ITS HIS TORT 

November 2i, he was again in Hartford and attended 
a meeting of the Council of Safety.'* 

Paine also may not have signed with (most of) the 
others ; for John Adams writes ^^*, to James Warren, July 
27th : " [J] Mr. Paine has been very ill for this whole 
week, and remains in a bad way. He has not been able 
to attend Congress for several days, and if I was to judge 
by his eye, his skin, and his cough, I should conclude 
he never would be fit to do duty there again, without 
a long intermission . . . Mr. S. Adams ^^^ between you 
and me, is completely worn out . . . My ^^^ case is 
worse . . ." 

That Heyward too may possibly have been absent on 
August 2d would perhaps suggest itself to one reading 
the proceedings of the Assembly of South Carolina, sit- 
ting at Charleston, of September 30th; for they say: 
" It being suggested to the House, that upon a suppo- 
sition that the seat of the Honourable Thomas Hey- 
ward became vacant in consequence of his being absent 
from this State as a Delegate at the Continental Con- 
gress, a new Representative for Charles-Town was elected 
in his room, and that such proceeding was irregular and 
invalid, it was, therefore, moved and seconded, that the 
House do resolve that Mr. Heyward has a right to take 
his seat, notwithstanding the said election. And it 
was resolved accordingly." A letter to the Committee 
of Safety of North Carolina, dated Philadelphia, Sep- 
tember 3d, signed by Hooper, Hewes and Penn, says, 
however: "[NC] From the Newspapers, aided with the 
information which you will receive from our friend M' 
Heyward . . /' ; from which ^^^ it would appear that 

217 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Heyward was the bearer of the letter and, therefore, 
cannot have left Philadelphia before September 3d. 
Beyond question, he was still present on September 
4th ; and he then purposed to leave on the 5th.^^^ 

Jefferson^s letter to Page of July 20th ^^^ raises a doubt 
also as to Braxton's presence in Congress on August 2d ; 
but we think, in view of all of the circumstances ^^^, that he 
probably did not leave for Virginia until after that day. 

Indeed, since 55 members besides the President signed 
the Declaration on parchment, Jefferson's notes would 
seem to indicate the probable (though not certain) absence 
on August 2d of still others. The notes say : 

on the 30^? & 31^.* of that month [July] & V} of the ensuing, 
those articles were debated which . . . the first of these articles 

Mr Chase moved . . . 

Mr John Adams observed . . • 

Mr Wilson said ... 

Mr. Payne . . .^*^ 

T>\ Witherspoon was of opinion ... 
The other article . . . 

present 41. members. 

July 30. 31. Aug.i.^ Mr Chase observed . . • 

Df Franklin . . . 

Df Witherspoon opposed . . • 

John Adams advocated . . . 

Mr Harrison proposed . . • 

Df Rush took notice ... 

Mr Hopkins observed . . • 

Mr Wilson thought . . . 

John Adams' debates show only that Jefferson, Sher- 
man, Chase, Wilson, (Lyman) Hall, Heyward and 

218 



ITS HIS TORT 

Hopkinson^^* spoke on July 25th ; (Edward) Rutledge, 
Lynch ^^^ Gwinnett, Jefferson, Braxton, Wilson, Wal- 
ton, Stone, Witherspoon, Chase and Sherman on the 
26th ; Franklin, Witherspoon, Clark, Wilson, Chase, 
Lynch and (Edward) Rutledge on the 30th ; Hooper, 
Franklin, Middleton, Sherman, Rush, Witherspoon and 
Hopkins on August ist; and Sherman, Chase, Harrison, 
Huntington, Stone and Jefferson on the 2d. 

The Journal for July 25th shows only that Jefferson, 
Wilson and Sherman were chosen upon a committee and 
that Congress resolved itself into a committee of the 
whole and that Harrison was chairman ; for the 26th 
only that Congress resolved itself into a committee of 
the whole and that Morton was chairman ; for the 29th 
only that Clark was chosen upon a committee and that 
Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole 
and that Morton was chairman ; for the 30th only that 
Harrison, Samuel Adams and Lynch were chosen upon 
a committee and that Congress resolved itself into 
a committee of the whole and that Morton was chair- 
man ; for the 31st and for August ist only that Congress 
resolved itself into a committee of the whole and that 
Morton was chairman ; and for the 2d only that Walton 
was chosen upon a committee " in the room of M"" Gwin- 
net, who is absent" and that Congress resolved itself 
into a committee of the whole and that Morton was 
chairman. 



219 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



X 

THE EFFECT OF THE DECLARATION AND 
WHAT WAS THOUGHT^ OF IT 

" Ring ye the bels, ye yong men of the towne. 
And leave your wonted labors for this day : 
This day is holy ; doe ye write it downe. 
That ye for ever it remember may." 

THE Declaration changed a war of principle — a 
defensive war, a war for the redress of wrongs 
— into a war for the estabHshment of a separate 
government. 

Gerry, enclosing a copy of the Declaration " for your- 
self, and another for Major Hawley," writes, to James 
Warren, July 5th : " I have the pleasure to inform you 
that a determined resolution of the Delegates from some 
of the Colonies to push the question of Independency 
has had a most happy effect, and, after a day's ^ debate, 
all the Colonies, excepting New- York, whose Delegates 
are not empowered to give either an affirmative or nega- 
tive voice united in a declaration long sought for, so- 
licited, and necessary — the Declaration of Independency. 
New-York will most probably on Monday next, when 
its convention meets for forming a constitution, join in 
the measure, and then it will be entitled The Unani- 

220 



ITS HISTORT 

mous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of 
America." 

On the same day, John Adams declares, to Polly 
Palmer^: "[QyC] I will inclose to you a Declaration, in 

which all America is most remarkably united. It 

compleats a Revolution, which will make as good a Figure 
in the History of Nations, as any that has preceded it. 
— provided always that the Ladies take Care to record 
the Circumstances of it, for by the Experience I have 
had of the other Sex, they are either too lazy or too 
active, to commemorate it." 

Whipple writes, July 8th, to Langdon : "Yours of 
the 24th ultimo I have received . . . The Declaration 
will no doubt give you pleasure. It will be published 
next Thursday at the head of the Army at New-York. 
I am told it is to be published this day in form in this 
city ... I hope that you will take care that the Decla- 
ration is properly treated. Colonel Bartlett desires his 
compliments " ; and, at 10 o*clock in the evening (of the 
same day), also, of course, from Philadelphia, to Joshua 
Brackett (?): " [Mn] I cannot forbear communicating 
the Pleasure I know You will enjoy on Receipt of the 
enclosd Declaration, it was this day published in form 
at the State House in this City . . ." 

" Sir," says Joseph Barton of Delaware, to Wisner, his 
cousin, on the 9th, " it gives a great turn to the minds of 
our people declaring our independence. Now we know 
what to depend on. For my part, I have been at a great 
stand : I could hardly own the King, and fight against 
him at the same time ; but now these matters are cleared 
up. Heart and hand shall move together. I don't think 

221 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

there will be five Tories in our part of the country 
in ten days after matters are well known. We have had 
great numbers who would do nothing until we were 
declared a free State, who now are ready to spend their 
lives and fortunes in defence of our country.'* 

Caesar Rodney writes, July loth *, to Thomas Rodney : 
"The Declaration has laid the foundation, and will be 
followed by laws fixing the degree of oflfence and punish- 
ment suitable. Some people have done things which, 
if done in future, nothing less than Yi^o, will be sufficient 
to atone for . . . Neither Betsey's nor Sally's shoes ^ are 
yet done, though the measures were sent as soon as I got 
to town. I am glad to find that you are of opinion my 
harvest will be down by the last of this week. Pray do 
attend to it. Perhaps wheat will bring something next 
year." 

Evidently about the same time, Samuel Adams writes, 
to John Pitts : " [SA] You were informd by the last 
Post that Congress had declared the thirteen united Colo- 
nies free & independent States — It must be allowd by 
the impartial World that this Declaration has not been 
made rashly . . . Much I fear has been lost by Delay, 
but an Accession of several Colonies has been gaind by 
it — The Delegates of every Colony were present & con- 
cured in this important Act ; except those of N Y who 
were not authorizd to give their Voice on the Question, 
but they have since publickly said that a new Conven- 
tion was soon to meet in that Colony & they had not 
the least Doubt of their acceding to it[.] " 

Five days later, he declares to R. H. Lee : " [A] Our 
Declaration of Independency has given Vigor to the 

222 



ITS HISTORT 

Spirits of the people. Had this decisive Measure been 
taken Nine Months ago, it is my opinion that Canada 
would at this time have been in our hands . . . We 
were more fortunate than I expected in having 1 2 of the 
13 Colonies in favor of the all important Question — 
The Delegates of N. York^ were not empowered to give 
their Voice on either Side — Their Convention has ac- 
ceded to the Declaration & published it even before'' 
they received it from Congress — So mighty a Change in 
so short a Time ! . . . A Convention is now meeting in 
this City [Philadelphia] to form a Constitution for this 
Colony — They are empowered . . . to chuse new Dele- 
gates for Congress — I am told that there will be a 
Change of Men, and if so, I hope for the better[.] " 

Again, on the i6th, he writes, to Warren ; "[SA] Our 
Declaration of Independence has already been attended 
with good effects — It is fortunate beyond our expecta- 
tion to have the voice of every Colony in favor of so 
important a question — " 

A third letter of the 15th (Monday), from Dr. Samuel 
Cooper, at Boston, says : " [SA] Nothing could give 
greater Joy here than an unanimous Vote in Congress 
for Independence — We received last Saturday by the 
Post the Declaration. It is admir'd for it's Compre- 
hensive & calm Dignity. — But how came the Dele- 
gates of Maryland to happen to be out of the Way 
when so important a Question was to be decided ? . . . 
Is it not strange that at this Time of day N. York Dele- 
gates should not be empowered to vote — The Declara- 
tion must give a new spring to all our Affairs." 

On the same day (the 15th), John Adams writes, to his 

223 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

wife : "[Qy] There is a most amiable, laudable and gal- 
lant Spirit prevailing, in these middle Colonies. — The 
Militia turn out in great Numbers and in high Spirits, 
in New Jersey, Pensilvania, Maryland, and Delaware. 
So that We hope to resist Howe and his Mirmidons — " 

Joseph Hawley, in acknowledging to Gerry the receipt 
of the copy which had been forwarded for him, writes, 
from Northampton, July 17th : " I have often said that 
I supposed a Declaration of Independence would be 
accompanied with a declaration of high treason. Most 
certainly it must immediately, and without the least de- 
lay, follow it . . . No one thing made the Declaration 
of Independence indispensably necessary more than cut- 
ting off traitors." 

Another son of Massachusetts, Tristram Dal ton, writ- 
ing from Newburyport to Gerry, July 19th, says: "I 
wish you joy on the late full Declaration — an event so 
ardently desired by your good self and the people you 
particularly represent. We are no longer to be amused 
with delusive prospects. The die is cast. All is at 
stake. The way is made plain. No one can now doubt 
on which side it is his duty to act . . . We are not to 
fear what man or a multitude can do. We have put on 
the harness, and I trust it will not be put off until we 
see our land a land of security and freedom — the won- 
der of the other hemisphere — the asylum of all who 
pant for deliverance from bondage." 

John Page, of Virginia, writes, to Jefferson, July 20th : 
" [S] I am highly pleased with your Declaration ^ God 
preserve the united States — We know the Race is not 
to the swift nor the Battle to the strong — Do you not 

224 



%M 



ITS HIS TORT 

think an Angel rides in the Whirlwind & directs this 
Storm ? " 

Bartlett writes, to Langdon, July 2 2d: "The Conven- 
tion here have taken on them the government of this 
Colony [Pennsylvania], and have appointed Delegates 
for Congress, men who will forward, and not hinder, 
spirited measures. In short, there is a far greater har- 
mony in carrying on spirited measures in Congress than 
heretofore. The Conventions even of Maryland and 
New- York seem now to be in earnest." 

The next day, "An old Friend" (evidently Rush^), 
writing from Philadelphia to General Lee, says : " The 
Declaration of Independence has produced a new era in 
this part of America. The Militia of Pennsylvania 
seem to be actuated with a spirit more than Roman . . . 
The Tories are quiet, but very surly . . . The spirit of 
liberty reigns triumphant in Pennsylvania. The Pro- 
prietary gentry have retired to their country seats, and 
honest men have taken the seats they abused so much in 
the government of our State. The papers will inform 
you that I have been thrust into Congress ... I think 
the Declaration of Independence will produce union and 
new exertions in England in the same ratio that they 
have done in this country." 

Certainly, on the 30th, Rush writes, to Dr. Walter : 
" [Mn] The influence of the declaration of independance 
upon the senate & the field is inconceivable." 

Benjamin Kent writes, to Samuel Adams from Boston, 
August 4th : " [SA] It is GOD'S doing the bringing 
about this truly astonishing and unparalleFd union the 
declaration of Independence — " 
IS 225 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Clark writes ^^, to Colonel Dayton from Philadelphia, 
August 6th : " [Gz] Your favour of the 25 July & 
M' Caldwells of the 26 from the German Flatts, I 
rec? A few days ago ... As to my Title — I know 
not yet whether it will be honourable or dishonourable, the 
issue of the War must Settle it — Perhaps our Congress 
will be Exalted on a high Gallows — We were truly brought 
to the Case of the three Lepers — if we continued in 
the State we were in, it was evident we must Perish — if 
We declared Independence, we might be saved, we could 
but perish . . . Excepting my health I am as Agreably 
Situated as I could expect Doctor Witherspoon M"^ 
Hart & my Self quarter together . . . P. S. You '1 please 
to Accept this on Plain Paper, our dignity don't afford 
Gilt, and our pay scarcely Any. — " 

In The Essex Journal^ etc., (C) for September 6th ap- 
pears an article by " Philomathes '' in praise of the 
Declaration. 

Nor was the change wrought among the doubtful " only 
but even among many who had previously strongly 
favored reconciliation. Among the latter, John Adams 
has given us Dickinson, Jay, Duane and William 
Livingston. 

Joseph Reed, writing to Robert Morris from New 
York City, July i8th, says: "[U] I fear the die is 
irrevocably cast, and that we must play out the game, 
however doubtful and desperate. My principles have 
been much misunderstood if they were supposed to mili- 
tate against reconciliation . . . My private judgment^^ 

326 



ITS HISTORT 

led me to think that if the two great cardinal points of 
exemption from British taxation and charge of internal 
government could have been secured, our happiness and 
prosperity would have been best promoted by preserving 
the dependence. The Declaration of Independence is a 
new and very strong objection to entering into any ne- 
gotiation inconsistent with that idea. But I fancy there 
are numbers, and some of them firm in the interests of 
America, who would think an overture ought not to be 
rejected, and if it could be improved into a negotiation 
which could secure the two points I have mentioned 
above, would think the blood and treasure expended well 
spent. I have no idea from anything I have seen or can 
learn that if we should give the General and Admiral a 
full and fair hearing, the proposition would amount to 
anything short of unconditional submission, but it may 
be worth considering whether that once known, and all 
prospect of securing American liberty in that way being 
closed, it would not have a happy effect to unite us into 
one chosen band, resolved to be free, or perish in the 
attempt ... I trust and hope . . . the publick will not 
lose your services in Congress." 

Morris replies, " [NY] From the Hills on Schuylkill'*, 
July 2ist^^: "I received your obliging letter of the 18*.'' 
yesterday in Congress ... I am sorry to say there are 
some amongst us that cannot bear the thought of Rec- 
onciliation on any terms ... I cannot help Condemn- 
ing this disposition as it must be founded in keen 
Resentment or on interested Views ... I think with 
you that if the Commissioners have any propositions 
to make they ought to be heard ... I am not for 

227 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

making any Sacrifice of Dignity, but still ^* I wou'd hear 
them if possible, because if they can offer Peace on ad- 
missible terms I believe the great majority of America 
wou'd still be for accepting it ; If they can only offer 
Pardons & that is fully ascertained it will firmly Unite 
all America in their exertions to support the Independ- 
ance they have declared ... If they offer or desire a 
Conference & we reject it, those who are already dissat- 
isfyed will become more so and others will follow their 
example & we may expect daily greater disunion & 
defection in every part of these States, at least such are 
my apprehensions on this Subject — I have uniformly 
voted against & opposed the declaration of Independ- 
ance because in my poor oppinion it was an improper 
time and will neither promote the interest or redound 
to the honor of America, for it has caused division 
when we wanted Union, and will be ascribed to very 
different principles than those, which ought to give rise 
to such an Important measure I did expect my Conduct 
on this great Question wou'd have procured my dismis- 
sion from the great Council but find myself disapointed 
for the Convention have thought proper to return me in 
the New Delegation, and altho, my interest & inclination 
prompt me to decline the Service Yet I cannot depart 
from one point that first induced me to enter in the 
Public line. I mean an oppinion that it is the duty 
of every Individual, to Act his part, in whatever Station 
his Country may Call him to, in times of difficulty 
danger & distress, whilst I think this a duty I must 
submit, altho the Councils of America have taken a 
different course from my Judgment & wishes — I think 

228 



ITS HISTORT 

an Individual that declines the Service of his Country 
because Its Councils are not conformable to his Ideas, 
makes but a bad Subject, a good one, will follow if 
he cannot lead . . . This being Sunday Morning & 
in the Country I have spun out this letter to a length 
not common with me now adays I beg my Comp^' to 
the Gen! I dined in Company with M? Washington 
yesterday at Col^ Harrisons & expect her here at din- 
ner to day[.]" 

Jasper Charlton, at " CufFnell's ", writes, August 24th, 
to James Iredell : " [I] Although politics is a subject of 
conversation I would by choice decline, yet I cannot 
help giving you my sentiments respecting the most in- 
teresting event which has as yet occurred, I mean Inde- 
pendency. My idea of it is simply this, that America 
is as yet too young to effect her own salvation, more 
especially when respect is had to the tempers, complex- 
ions, and various conditions of Its inhabitants. I think 
this business (if ever manageable) should have fallen 
into the hands of an united, robust and populous poster- 
ity ; and that at present she may be compared to a tender 
plant, by no means able to withstand the many rude 
shocks that a most inclement season will give it. God 
knows what the womb of time may produce. I will 
therefore quit a topic that awakens all my fears, and 
brings to my idea a train of melancholy events, and 
disastrous consequences." 

Indeed, Rev. Jacob Duche, in a letter to Wash- 
ington, dated Philadelphia, October 8, 1777, writes : 
" [NM] I was however prevailed upon among the rest of 
my Clerical Brethren in this City to gratify the pressing 

229 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Desire of my fellow Citizens by preaching a Sermon to 
one of the City Battalions. I was pressed to publish this 
Sermon & reluctantly consented . . . My Sermon speaks 
for itself and wholly disclaims the Idea of Independency. 
My Sentiments were well known to my Friends. I 
communicated them without reserve to ^^^^-fei ends many 
respectable Members of Congress, who expressed their 
Approbation of them. I persisted to the last Moment in 
using the Prayers for our Sovereign though threatened 
with Insult from the violence of a party — Upon the 
Declaration of Indepency I called my vestry & solemnly 
put the Question to them whether they thought it best 
for the peace & welfare of the Congregations to shut 
up the Churches or to continue the Service without 
using the Prayers for the royal Family. This was the 
sad alternative. I concluded to abide by their Decision, 
as I could not have time to consult my spiritual Su- 
periors in England. They determined it most expedient 
under such Critical Circumstances to keep open the 
Churches that the Congregations might not be dis- 
persed which we had great reason to apprehend — A 
very few days after that fatal Declaration of Independ- 
ence I rec^ a letter from M.' Hancock . . . acquainting 
me that I was appointed Chaplain to the Congress 
and desired to attend them at 9 o'Clock the next 
morning. Surprised and distressed by an Event, I was 
not prepared to expect, obliged to give an immediate 
answer without the opportunity of Consulting my 
Friends, I rashly accepted the appointment. I could 
have but one motive for taking this Step. I thought 
the Churches in Danger and hoped by this means to 

230 



Ml 



ITS HISTORT 

have been Instrumental in preventing those Ills I had so 
much reason to apprehend I can however with truth 
declare that I then looked upon Independency rather as 
an Expedient and a hazardous one — indeed thrown out 
in Terrorem in order to procure some favorable Terms, 
than a measure that was to be seriously persisted in at 
all Events . . . Upon the return of the Committee of 
Congress appointed to confer with Lord Howe I soon 
discovered their real intention . . . that Independency 
was the Idol they had long wished to set up . , . From 
this Moment I determined upon my Resignation and in 
the beginning of October 1776 sent it in Form to M' 
Handcock after having officiated only two Months & 
three Weeks and from that time as far as my Safety 
would permit I have been opposed to all their Measures." 



Rush writes, April 8, 1777: "[Rid] The declaration 
of independance was said to have divided & weakened 
the colonies — The contrary of this was the case. Noth- 
ing but the signing, & recognising of the declaration of 
independance preserved the congress from dissolution in 
Decem' 1776 when Howe marched to the Delaware. 
Maryland had instructed her delegates to concur in an 
Accommodation notwithstanding any measure (meaning 
independance) to the contrary. But further the dec- 
laration of independance produced a secession of tories — 
timid — moderate & double minded men from the coun- 
sels of America in consequence of which the congress as 
well as each of the states have possessed ten times the 
vigor and strength they had formerly [.]" 



231 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

cc 15 'j^i^g Governor of Halifax received the Declaration 
of Independancy, about four weeks since, but would not 
permit the poor dupe of a printer (had he ever so good a 
mind) to publish any more of it than barely the last clause, 
where it says; 'We therefore, the Representatives of the 
United States of America in General Congress assembled. 
Do, &c. &c/ And his reason (as we are credibly informed) 
was ' because it may gain over to them (the rebels) many 
converts ; and inflame the minds of his Majesty's loyal 
and faithful subjects of the province of Nova-Scotia/ " 



" 16 Tuesday last arrived Capt. M'Kay from St. Chris- 
tophers . . . He says the inhabitants of St. Christophers 
continue warmly attached to our cause, and that their 
reigning toasts are, WASHINGTON, LEE, and 
INDEPENDENCY to America." 



The Declaration appeared in The London Chronicle 
(PH), and extracts from it in The Daily Advertiser (C), 
also of London, of August lyth.^^ 

The Gentleman s Magazine ^ etc., (C) published in the 
same city, for August, also contains the Declaration, and 
the statement: "In the preceding part of this Magazine 
the reader will find the Declaration of Independency 
issued by the American Congress, with a recapitulation 
of the grievances which have forced them into that des- 
perate measure. Whether those grievances were real or 
imaginary, or whether they did or did not deserve a 
parliamentary enquiry, we [Sylvanus Urban] will not 
presume to decide. The ball is now struck, and time 
only can shew where it will rest." 

232 



ite 



ITS HISrORT 

The Scots Magazine (C) — published in Edinburgh — 
for August says : " The Congress, on the 4th of July? 
declared the colonies independent states. It is said, the 
number of provinces for independency were seven, against 
it six . . . Other accounts say, that the Congress were 
Unanimous : it is probable, that the members were 
divided, but, agreeable to the secret article of the Con- 
gress, the minority had gone in with the sentiments of 
the majority, and thus gave it the appearance of unanim- 
ity .. . We insert the Declaration of Independency ; 
subjoining, in the form of notes ^^ some remarks by a 
writer under the signature of An Englishman ; which he 
introduces thus : '. . . The Declaration is without doubt 
of the most extraordinary nature both with regard to 
sentiment and language ; and considering that the motive 
of it is to assign some justifiable reasons of their separating 
themselves from G. Britain, unless it had been fraught 
with more truth and sense, [it] might well have been 
spared, as it reflects no honour upon either their erudi- 
tion or their honesty/" 

The Annual Register ^ etc., (N) for 1776, published in 
London, also contains the Declaration, headed as follows : 
" Reasons assigned by the Continental Congress^ for the 
North- American Colonies and Provinces withdrawing their 
Allegiance to the King of Great-Britain!^ 

Ralph Izard writes, to Claude Crespigny, August 
31st: "They laugh, you say, at St. James at the 
Declaration of Independence. I do not know that they 
have much cause to do so. When the Duke of Braganza 
declared Portugal independent of Spain, and himself 
King of it, the Count-Duke Olivarez affected likewise 

233 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

to laugh. Philip the Fourth was persuaded to think it 
a very pleasant and comical circumstance . . . The King, 
however, was deceived, and the Spanish Monarchy dis- 
membered. Perhaps some historian may find a parallel 
to this Spanish story." 

William Lee writes, from London, September loth: 
" The declaration of independence on the part of America, 
has totally changed the nature of the contest between 
that country and Great Britain. It is now on the part 
of Great Britain a scheme of conquest, which few imagine 
can succeed. Independence . . . has altered the face of 
things here. The Tories, and particularly the Scotch, 
hang their heads and keep a profound silence on the 
subject; the Whigs do not say much, but rather seem to 
think the step a wise one, on the part of America, and 
what was an inevitable consequence of the measures taken 
by the British Ministry." 

The King, in his speech (drawn, of course, by Lord 
North) which opened the House of Peers, on October 
31st, said : "^^ . . . so daring and desperate is the Spirit 
of those Leaders, whose Object has always been Dominion 
and Power, that they have now openly renounced all 
Allegiance to the Crown, and all political Connection 
with this Country : They have . . . presumed to set 
up their rebellious Confederacies for Independent States. 
If their Treason be suffered to take Root, much Mis- 
chief must grow from it, to the Safety of my loyal 
Colonies, to the Commerce of my Kingdoms, and in- 
deed to the present System of all Europe. One great 
Advantage, however, will be derived from the Object of 
the Rebels being openly avowed, and clearly understood ; 

234 



ITS HISTORY 

We shall have Unanimity at Home, founded in the gen- 
eral Conviction of the Justice and Necessity of our 
Measures." 

Following the reading of this speech, an address ap- 
proving its sentiments was moved by the Earl of Carlisle 
(who spoke of the " insolence of the Rebels ") and 
seconded by Earl Fauconberg. In the debate which en- 
sued, the address was supported by the Earl of Derby, 
the Earl of Sandwich, Lord Viscount Weymouth and 
Lord Cardiff, the last of whom declared the Colonists 
"exceedingly ungrateful." 

The Marquis of Rockingham, however, condemned 
this measure and moved that it be amended. He said 
that, if the Colonists had '^ declared themselves independ- 
ent, it was long after they were declared enemies ; and 
for his part he could not possibly see what degree of 
obedience was due, where public protection was openly 
withdrawn." He was supported by Lord Wycombe 
and Lord Osborne. 

The Duke of Richmond thought it would be much 
better to have the Americans " as friends than enemies, 
though we should be under the necessity of acknowledg- 
ing them as so many independent States " ; and, in speak- 
ing of the various measures that preceded the Declaration, 
he said that the " Ministers had been successful, and 
gained what they secretly wished for, though they did not 
dare to avow it . . ." 

The Duke of Grafton " pledged himself to the House, 
and to the publick, that while he had a leg ^^ to stand on, 
he would come down, day after day, to express the most 
marked abhorrence of the measures hitherto pursued, and 

235 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

meant to be adhered to, in respect to America. He con- 
demned, in terms equally explicit and unreserved, the 
measures which had compelled America to declare her- 
self independent, though he was sorry for it, and thought 
she acted extremely wrong in so doing/* 

The address was adopted as introduced. 

In the address to the YAngfrom the House of Commons, 
moved by Neville, seconded by Hutton and supported 
by Wombwell, we read : " While we lament the con- 
tinuance of the troubles which have so longr distracted 
your Majesty's Colonies in North America, and of the 
calamities and oppressions which our unhappy fellow- 
subjects are still suffering under the arbitrary tyranny of 
their leaders ; we cannot forbear to express our detesta- 
tion and abhorrence of the audacious and desperate spirit 
of ambition, which has at last carried those leaders so far, 
as to make them openly renounce all allegiance . . ." 

In the debate here, as well as in the House of Peers, 
many — among them General Conway — showed them- 
selves, however, to be opposed to the Ministry. 

An amendment, offered by Lord John Cavendish and 
seconded by the Marquis of Granby, proposed to strike 
out the first part of the address and insert : " Nor can we 
conceive that such an event . . . could have taken place 
without some errour in the conduct observed towards 
them . . r 

Wilkes declared : " Much has been said, sir, of the 
prophecy of the Ministers, that the Americans would in 
the end declare themselves independent. I give the 
Ministers no credit for such a prophecy . . . They 
might very safely promulgate such a prediction, when 

236 



ITS HISTORT 

they knew that the unjust and sanguinary measures which 
they intended to pursue, must bring about the event. 
They drove the Americans into their present state of 
independency. The Jesuits in France risked nothing 
when they prophesied in 1610 the death of the best 
prince that ever reigned in Europe, within that year. 
Theirs was the sure word of prophecy. They employed 
Ravillac to assassinate their Sovereign . . . This [declar- 
ing independence] was done with circumstances of spirit 
and courage, to which posterity will do justice. It was 
directly after the safe landing of your whole force . . . 
I hope, and believe, you never will conquer the free 
spirit of the descendants of Englishmen, exerted in an 
honest cause. They honor and value the blessings of 
liberty." 

Governor Johnstone " ^^ said he was far from being 
pleased with the Americans for their declarations in 
favour of Independency, but he saw clearly that they 
were driven to the measure by our vigorous persecution 
of them. We had hired foreign troops to fight against 
them, and they had no other way of putting themselves 
on a footing with us, than by throwing off the yoke . . . 
and inviting foreign aid to defend them. They had, 
he said, taken every possible means to avoid such a 
measure . . ." 

Fox thought that " The Americans had done no more 
than the English had done against James the II." 

The Honorable Temple Luttrell and the Right Hon- 
orable T. Townshend approved of the act of the Col- 
onists. The former said, " For his part, he construed 
this speech [the King's] an infamous, groundless libel 

237 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

fabricated by a tyrannical faction, against some of the 
most valuable members of the British community, who, 
actuated by principles of justice and honour, were nobly 
contending on the other side of the Atlantick, for the 
dearest rights of mankind ; and who, limiting their resist- 
ance to a redress of real and essential grievances, were 
falsely accused of having, from the beginning of this 
unhappy contest, had no other object in view than anar- 
chy and independence." The latter, speaking of the 
Declaration, expressed himself thus : " To say that the 
measures of last year did not tend to this end, seems to 
me absurd to the last degree . . . There is, I think, 
one part of the speech which mentions a discovery of 
the original designs of the leaders of the Americans. In 
God's name, who made them leaders ? How came they 
to be so ? If you force men together by oppression, they 
will form into bodies, and choose leaders. Mr. Han- 
cock^^ was a merchant of credit and opulence when this 
unhappy business first broke out. Men in that kind of 
situation are not very prone to a change of Government." 



"The arrivaP^ of the declaration of independence" in 
France, Bancroft says, "gave more earnestness to the 
advice of Vergennes . . . [His] words . . . were sharp 
and penetrating . . . but the young prince whose deci- 
sion was invoked was too weak to lead in affairs of magni- 
tude . . . with the utmost firmness of will of which his 
feeble nature was capable, he was resolved that the peace 
of France should not be broken in his day. But decid- 
ing firmly against war [with Great Britain], he shunned 
the labor of further discussion ; and indolently allowed 

238 



ITS HISTORY 

his ministers to aid the Americans . . . the Marquis 
of Lafayette . . . whispered his purpose of joining the 
Americans . . . Besides disinterested and chivalrous vol- 
unteers, a crowd of selfish adventurers, officers who had 
been dropped from the French service under the reforms 
of Saint-Germain, and even Swiss and Germans, thronged 
Deane's apartments in quest of employment, and by large 
promises, sturdy importunity, or real or pretended recom- 
mendations from great men, wrung from him promiscu- 
ous engagements for high rank In the American army." 

Deane himself writes, from Paris, December ist : ". . . 
emigrations from Europe will be prodigious immediately 
on^"^ the establishment of American independency." 



But we must look still further. Bancroft tells us: " The 
civilized world had the deepest interest in the result : for 
it involved the reform of the British Padiament, the 
emancipation of Ireland, the disinthralment of the people 
of France, the awakening of the nations of Europe. Even 
Hungary stretched forward to hear from the distance the 
gladsome sound; the Italians^^ recalled their days of 
unity and might." " In Spain, the interest in America 
was confined to the Court . . . the catholic king was 
averse to hostile measures ; his chief minister wished not 
to raise up a republic on the western continent, but only 
to let England worry and exhaust herself by a long civil 



war." 



239 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



XI 

THE FIREWORKS OF 1776 

ON the very day the Declaration was adopted, 
Congress, as we have seen, ordered " That cop- 
ies^ of the declaration be [printed and] sent to ^ 
the several assemblies, conventions & committees or 
councils of safety and to the several commanding officers 
of the continental troops . . ." 

In pursuance of this order, Hancock, on the 5th, en- 
closed to the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania " a 
copy of the Declaration of Independence, which I am 
directed ", he says, " to request you will have proclaimed 
in your Colony in the way and manner which you shall 
judge best . . . The important consequences flowing 
from the Declaration of Independence . . . will nat- 
urally suggest the propriety of proclaiming it in such a 
mode that the people may be universally informed of 
it." Another copy he enclosed to the Convention of 
New Jersey.^ The next day, a similar letter was sent to 
the Convention of New York^ to the Assembly of 
Massachusetts, to the Assembly of New Hampshire, to 
Governor Trumbull, to Governor Cooke, to Washington 
and to General Ward. The letter to Maryland and the 
letter to Virginia were dated the 8th. 

240 



ITS HISTORT 

The Committee of Safety^ of Pennsylvania received 
its copy of this order of Congress of July 4thj which 
they immediately directed to be entered on their min- 
utes, together with " copy of the Declaration", on the 
6t\i\ 

" [Pa] Letters were wrote ^ " by them immediately to 
the Counties of Bucks, Chester, Northampton, Lancas- 
ter and Berks, "Inclosing Copy^ of the said Declara- 
tion," and requesting that it be published on the next 
Monday at the places where the elections for Delegates 
to the Convention^ were to be held. 

They then adjourned to 5 o'clock, when they ^^ " [Pa] 
Ordered, That the Sheriff of Philad'a read, or Cause to 
be read and proclaimed at the State House, in the City 
of Philadelphia, on [the same] Monday, the Eighth day 
of July, instant, at 12 o'Clock at Noon of the same day, 
the Declaration . . . and that he cause all his Officers, 
and the Constables of the said City, to attend the read- 
ing thereof. Resolved, That every Member of this 
Committee in or near the City, be ordered to meet at the 
Committee Chamber, before 12 o^Clock, on Monday, to 
proceed to the State House, where the Declaration . . . 
is to be proclaimed. The Committee of Inspection of 
the City and Liberties were requested to attend the 
Proclamation of Independence, at the State House, on 
Monday next, at 12 o'Clock." 

On the same day, as appears from his Diary, Mar- 
shall, a member of the Committee of Inspection, " near 
eight, went to committee, Philosophical Hall . . . 
Agreed that the Declaration of Independence be de- 
clared at the State House next Second Day. At same 
16 241 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

time, the King's arms there are to be taken down by- 
nine Associators, here appointed, who are to convey it 
to a pile of casks erected upon the commons, for the 
purpose of a bonfire, and the arms placed on the top. 
This being Election day, I opposed the motion, only 
by having this put off till next day, fearing it would 
interrupt the Election, but the motion was carried by a 
majority." 

On Monday, the 8th ^^^^, in accordance with the order 
and resolution of the Committee of Safety, "^^The 
Committee of Safety ^*, and Committee of Inspection, 
went in procession to the State House [in Philadelphia], 
where the Declaration ^^ . . . was read ^^ to a very large 
number of the Inhabitants^^ of this city and county, 
which was received with general applause and heart-felt 
satisfaction. — " 

John Adams, in his letter of July 9th to Chase, de- 
scribes the scene thus : " [QyC] Yours of the 5^^ ^^ came 
to me the 8*.^ — You will see^^ by this Post, that the 
River is past and the Bridge cutt away. — The Declara- 
tion was yesterday published and proclaimed from that 
awfull Stage ^^, in the State house yard, by whom do you 
think ? by the Committee of Safety ! the Committee of 
Inspection, and a great Crowd of People. Three 
Cheers rended the Welkin. — The Battalions^^ paraded 
on the common, and gave Us the Feu de Joy, notwith- 
standing the Scarcity of Powder. The Bells rung all 
Day, and almost all night. Even the Chimers^, chimed 
away. The Election for the City was carried on amidst 
all this Lurry with the Utmost Decency, and order . . . ^ 
I agree with you, that We never can again be happy, 

242 



ITS HISTORY 

under a single Particle of British Power, indeed this 
Sentiment is very universal. — The Arms, are taken 
down from every public Place." 

"^ . . . in the evening ^^ [of the 8th] our late King's 
coat of arms was brought ^^ from the Hall, in the State- 
House, where the said King's Courts ^ were formerly 
held, and burned amidst the acclamations of a crowd of 
spectators." 

George Ross, as chairman, also on the 6th writes, " In 
Committee, Lancaster," to Colonel Galbraith (evidently at 
Elizabethtown) : " We this day received ^^ the enclosed 
resolves of the Congress as to the Independency of the 
United States of America, which we forward to you for 
the regulation of your conduct in the present alarming 
situation of our affairs. The battalions in this town were 
this day drawn out . . ." 

The Declaration was received at Easton, Northampton 
County, on the 8th. On the same day — the day of 
the celebration in Philadelphia — , "^^The Colonel 
and all other field officers of the first battalion repaired to 
the court-house, the light infantry company marching 
there with drums beating, fifes playing, and the standard 
(the device for which is the thirteen United Colonies) 
which was ordered to be displayed, and after that the 
Declaration was read aloud to a great number of spec- 
tators, who gave their hearty assent with three loud 
huzzas, and cried out MAY GOD LONG PRESERVE 
and UNITE the FREE and INDEPENDANT 
STATES of AMERICA." 20 

The Declaration, as seen, was formally approved by 
the Convention of Pennsylvania on July 25th. 

243 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^^ On the same day (the 8th) that the Declaration was 
read in Philadelphia and in Easton, it (together with the 
new State Constitution, adopted on the 2d) was pro- 
claimed at Trenton. "^^ The members of the Provin- 
cial Congress, the gentlemen of the committee, the officers 
and privates of the militia, under arms, and a large con- 
course of the inhabitants, attended on this great and 
solemn occasion. The declaration, and other proceed- 
ings, were received with loud acclamations." 

We are still more interested in the scene at Princeton 
on the following night. " ^^ Nassawhall was grandly 
illuminated, and INDEPENDENCY proclaimed under 
a triple volly of musketry, and universal acclamation for 
the prosperity of the UNITED STATES. The cere- 
mony was conducted with the greatest decorum." 

The Declaration reached New Brunswick, according to 
Charles D. Deshler^* , on the 9th ^ and was proclaimed 
there on either the same or the next day. He gives an 
interesting account of the scene, which, he says, he had 
from his grandfather. Dr. Jacob Dunham : " When 
the Declaration of Independence was brought to New 
Brunswick, I was a boy about nine years old. There 
was great excitement in the town over the news, most of 
the people rejoicing that we were free and independent, 
but a few looking very sour over it . . . The Declara- 
tion was brought by an express rider, who was at once 
furnished with a fresh horse, and despatched on his way 
to New York. The County Committee and the Town 
Committee were immediately convened, and it was de- 
cided that the Declaration should be read in the public 
street [Albany Street], in front of the White Hall tavern, 

244 



ITS HISTORT 

that the reader should be Colonel John Neilson, and 
that the members of the two committees should exert 
themselves to secure the attendance of as many as pos- 
sible of the staunch friends of independence, so as to 
overawe any disaffected Tories, and resent any interrup- 
tion of the meeting that they might attempt. Although 
these Tories were not numerous, they were, most of them, 
men of wealth and influence, and were very active. Ac- 
cordingly, at the time appointed [I cannot now recall the 
hour, if, indeed, my grandfather stated it], the Whigs 
assembled in great force, wearing an air of great deter- 
mination. A stage was improvised in front of the White 
Hall tavern, and from it Colonel Neilson, surrounded by 
the other members of the committee, read the Declara- 
tion with grave deliberation and emphasis. At the close 
of the reading there was prolonged cheering. A few 
Tories were present ; but although they sneered, and 
looked their dissatisfaction in other ways, they were pru- 
dent enough not to make any demonstration." 

"^^ A letter written by Major Barber to Mr. Caldwell, 
on the seventeenth of the same month, informs us how 
the news of independence was received by Colonel Day- 
ton's New Jersey command — then at Fort Stanwix. 
After the Declaration had been read, cannons fired, and 
huzzas given, the battalion was formed in a circle with 
three barrels of grog in the center. The Colonel took a 
cup and drank to the toast — ' God bless the United States 
of America.' The other officers followed, drinking the 
same toast, as did afterwards the battalion, accompanied 
by loud hurrahs, shouting, and other signals of appro- 
bation." 

245 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

The Provincial Congress, on the 17th, resolved that 
they would support the freedom of the " States with our 
lives and fortunes, and with the whole force of New- 
Jersey." 

Bridgetown did not proclaim the Declaration until 
August 7th ; but its reception of the instrument was no 
less spirited than that of the places already described. 
The Committee of Inspection for the County (Cumber- 
land), " the officers of the militia, and a great number of 
other inhabitants, having met . . . went in procession 
to the Court-House, where the Declaration . . . the 
Constitution of New-Jersey, and the Treason Ordinance, 
were pubiickly read, and unanimously approved of. 
These were followed with a spirited Address by Dr. 
Elmer, Chairman of the Committee ; after which the 
Peace Officers' staves, on which were depicted the King's 
Coat of Arms, with other ensigns of royalty, were burnt 
in the street. The whole was conducted with the 
greatest decency and regularity. The following, being 
the substance of the before mentioned Address is 
published at the particular request of the Committee 
and all who were present : ' Gentlemen of the Committee, 
Officers of the Militia, and Gentlemen spectators : 
From what has now been read, you see the long wished 
for, but much dreaded period has arrived, in which the 
connexion between Great Britain and America is totally 
dissolved, and these Colonies declared Free and Inde- 
pendent States. As this is an event of the greatest 
importance, it must afford satisfaction to every intelli- 
gent person to reflect, that ir was brought about by 
unavoidable necessity on our part, and has been con- 

246 



ITS HISTORT 

ducted with a prudence and moderation becoming the 
wisest and best of men. With the Independency of the 
American States a new era in politicks has commenced. 
Every consideration respecting the propriety or im- 
propriety of a separation from Britain, is now entirely 
out of the question ; and we have now no more to do with 
the King and people of England, than we have with the 
King and people of France or Spain. No people under 
Heaven were ever favoured with a fairer opportunity of 
laying a sure foundation for future grandeur and happi- 
ness than we. The plan of Government established in 
most States and Kingdoms of the world, has been the 
effect of chance or necessity : ours of sober reason and 
cool deliberation. Our future happiness or misery, there- 
fore, as a people, will depend entirely upon ourselves. 
If, actuated by principles of virtue and genuine patriot- 
ism, we make the welfare of our country the sole aim of 
all our actions ; if we intrust none but persons of abilities 
and integrity with the management of our publick affairs ; 
if we carefully guard against corruption and undue in- 
fluence in the several departments of Government; if we 
are steady and zealous in putting the laws in strict 
execution ; — the spirit and principles of our new Con- 
stitution, which we have just now heard read, may be 
preserved for a long time. But if faction and party 
spirit, the destruction of popular Governments, take 
place, anarchy and confusion will soon ensue, and we 
shall either fall an easy prey to a foreign enemy, or some 
factious and aspiring demagogue, possessed of popular 
talents and shining qualities — a Julius Caesar or an 
Oliver Cromwell — will spring up among ourselves, who, 

247 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

taking advantage of our political animosities, will lay 
violent hands on the Government, and sacrifice the 
liberties of his country to his own ambitious and domi- 
neering humour. God grant that neither of these may 
ever be the unhappy fate of this or any of the United 
States. To prevent which, while we are striving to 
defend ourselves against the unjust encroachments of a 
foreign and unnatural enemy, let us not neglect to keep 
a strict and jealous eye over our own internal police and 
Constitution. Let the fate of Greece, Rome, Carthage, 
and Great Britain, warn us of our danger ; and the loss 
of liberty in all those States, for want of timely guarding 
against the introduction of tyranny and usurpation, be a 
standing admonition to us, to avoid the rock on which 
they have all been shipwrecked. Let us, as good citizens 
and sincere lovers of our country, exert ourselves in the 
defence of our State and in support of our new Con- 
stitution ; but while we strive to vindicate the glorious 
cause of liberty on the one hand, let us, on the other 
hand, carefully guard against running into the contrary 
extreme of disorder and licentiousness. In our present 
situation, engaged in a bloody and dangerous war with 
the power of Great Britain, for the defence of our lives, 
our liberties, our property, and everything that is dear 
and valuable, every member of this State who enjoys the 
benefits of its civil government, is absolutely bound, by 
the immutable law of self-preservation, the laws of God 
and of society, to assist in protecting and defending it. 
This is so plain and self-evident a proposition, that I am 
pursuaded every person here makes it the rule of his 
conduct on all occasions ; and consequently, in a time of 

248 



■m 



ITS HISTORT 

such imminent danger, will be extremely careful, at our 
ensuing election, not to intrust any one with the manage- 
ment of our publick affairs who has not, by his vigilance 
and activity in the cause of liberty, proved himself to be 
a true friend to his country. The success, gentlemen, of 
our present glorious struggle wholly depends upon this 
single circumstance. For though the situation and 
extent of the United States of America and our number- 
less internal resources, are sufficient to enable us to bid 
defiance to all Europe, yet should we be so careless 
about our own safety as to intrust the affairs of our 
State, while the bayonet is pointed at our breasts, to 
persons whose conduct discovers them to be enemies to 
their country, or whose religious principles will not suffer 
them to lift a hand for our defence, our ruin will in- 
evitably follow. As it is impossible for any one pos- 
sessed of the spirit of a man, who is a friend to the 
United States, and whose conscience does not furnish 
him with an excuse to stand by, an idle spectator, while 
his country is struggling and bleeding in her own 
necessary defence, all such inactive persons ought there- 
fore to be shunned as enemies or despised as cowards. 
And as I have reason to believe that many who plead 
conscience as an excuse are sincere in their pretentions, 
and as every man's conscience ought to be free from com- 
pulsion, this single consideration should restrain us from 
forcing such into any of the departments of Government. 
For to put such persons, at this time, in places of 
publick trust, is actually to deprive them of liberty of 
conscience ; for we thereby compel them either to betray 
the trust reposed in them, or to act contrary to the 

249 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

dictates of their own consciences ; a dilemma in which, 
act as they will, their conduct must be criminal. Besides, 
if we consulted only our own safety, it is plain, that to 
intrust the affairs of our Government, at this juncture, 
to such people, is as dangerous as to intrust the manage- 
ment of a ship in a violent storm to an infant or an 
idiot. As a friend to my country and a lover of 
liberty, I thought it my duty to address you on this 
occasion ; and having now, as a faithful member of 
society, discharged my duty, I shall leave you to the 
exercise of your own judgment, and conclude with a 
request, that you would conduct yourself this day in such 
a manner as to convince the publick that your abhorrence 
of the cruel and bloody Nero of Britain, and his despi- 
cable minions of tyranny and oppression, arises, not from 
the mere impulse of blind passion and prejudice, but 
from sober reason and reflection ; and while we rejoice 
in being formally emancipated from our haughty and 
imperious task-masters, let us remember that the final 
termination of this grand event is not likely to be brought 
about without shedding the blood of many of our dear 
friends and countrymen.* " 

"The message [of M:Kean^^] no sooner reached him 
[Caesar Rodney, in Delaware]," says Sanderson ^^, " than, 
laying aside all other engagements, he hastened to Phila- 
delphia, where he arrived just in time to give his vote, 
and secure the unanimity of the daring measure. He 
transmitted an account of it to Dover on the same day^^; 
and his friend colonel Haslet, in acknowledging his 
letter on the sixth of July, thus refers to it. * I con- 

250 



ITS HISTORT 

gratulate you, sir, on the important day which restores 
to every American his birthright; a day which every 
freeman will record with gratitude, and the millions of 
posterity read with rapture. Ensign Wilson arrived here 
last night ; a fine turtle feast at Dover, anticipated and 
announced the declaration of congress ; even the barrister 
himself laid aside his airs of reserve, mighty happy/ 
At the time Mr. Rodney's letter reached Dover, the 
election of officers of a new battalion was going on ; the 
committee of safety, however, immediately met, and after 
receiving the intelligence proceeded in a body to the 
court house, where (the election being stopped) the presi- 
dent read the Declaration of congress . . . which re- 
ceived the highest approbation of the people, in three 
huzzas. The committee then went in a body back to 
their room, where they sent for a picture of the king of 
Great Britain, and made the drummer of the infantry 
bear it before the president ; they then marched two and 
two, followed by the light infantry in slow time, with 
music, round the square, then forming a circle about a 
fire prepared in the middle of the square for that pur- 
pose, the president, pronouncing the following words, 
committed it to the flames ; ' Compelled by strong ne- 
cessity thus we destroy even the shadow of that king who 
refused to reign over a free people.* Three loud huzzas 
were given by the surrounding crowd; and the friends 
of liberty gained new courage, to support the cause in 
which they had embarked." 

Hancock's letter to Washington, accompanied by " the 
enclosed^ Declaration," requested him, as we have seen, 

251 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

to " have it proclaimed at the Head of the Army in the 
Way, you shall think most proper." 

Washington was then in New York City^^, and, as 
shown by his orders^ made the following order on the 9th *^ : 
" [S] The Hon. the Continental Congress, impelled by 
the dictates of duty, policy and necessity, having been 
pleased to dissolve the Connection which subsisted 
between this Country, and Great Britain, and to declare 
the United Colonies of North America, free and inde- 
pendent STATES The several brigades are to be drawn 
up this evening on their respective Parades, at six Oclock, 
when the Declaration of Congress, shewing the grounds 
& reasons of this measure, is to be read with an audible 
voice. The General hopes this important Event will 
serve as a free incentive to every officer, and soldier, to 
act with Fidelity and Courage, as knowing that now the 
peace and safety of his Country depends (under God) 
solely on the success of our arms : And that he is now 
in the service of a State, possessed of sufficient power to 
reward his merit, and advance him to the highest Honors 
of a free Country. The Brigade Majors are to receive, 
at the Adjutant Generals Office, several of the Declara- 
tions ^ to be delivered to the Brigadiers General, and the 
Colonels of regiments." 

In accordance with this order, as Lossing tells us, 
"[H] The brigades** were formed*^ in hollow squares 
on their respective parades. One of these brigades was 
encamped on the ^ Commons,' where the New York City 
Hall now stands." " [H] The venerable Zackariah 
Greene ... yet (1852) Jiving at Hempstead, at the age 
of ninety-three years, informed me that he belonged 

252 



ITS HISTORT 

to . . . [this] brigade . . . The hollow square was 
formed at about the spot where the Park Fountain now 
is. He says that Washington was within the square, on 
horseback, and that the Declaration was read ^^ in a clear 
voice by one of his aids." 

Washington himself, in a letter of the loth to 
Congress, describes the scene — quite simply — thus: 
" *^ Agreeable to the request of Congress I caused the 
Declaration to be proclaimed before all^^ the Army 
under my im^mediate Command, and have the pleasure to 
inform them, that the measure seemed to have their hearty 
assent ; the Expressions and behaviour both of Officers 
and men testifying their warmest approbation of it [.] " 

His statement is confirmed by*^ Colonel Seymour, in 
a letter to Trumbull, dated the iith^: "The enemy ^^ 
are constantly in view, upon and at Staten-Island . . . 
Independency is highly approved by the Army." 

" ^^ The same evening ^^ [the 9th] the equestrian statue 
of George HI.^* which Tory pride and folly raised in the 
year 1770, was, by the sons of freedom ^^, laid prostrate 
in the dirt, the just desert of an ungrateful tyrant ! The 
lead wherewith this monument was made is to be^*^ run 
into bullets, to assimilate with the brain of our infatuated 
adversaries, who to gain a peppercorn [referring to Lord 
Clare's speech in the House of Commons : that a pepper- 
corn, in acknowledgment of Britain's right to tax America, 
was of more importance than millions without it], have lost 
an empire. ^ ^os Deus vult perdere prius dementatJ A 
gentleman, who was present at this ominous fall of leaden 
Majesty, looking back to the original's hopeful beginning 
pertinently exclaimed, in the language of the Angel to 

253 



r>ECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Lucifer, Mf thou be'st he! but ah, how fallen ! How 
changed ! ' " 

The next day, "^^ In pursuance of the Declaration of 
Independency, a general gaol delivery with respect to 
debtors, took place ..." 

Alexander Graydon, whose regiment (Shee's) and Ma- 
gaw's, of Pennsylvania, were encamped upon the ground 
on which Fort Washington ^^ was erected, says^^ that the 
Declaration was, " when received, read to the respective 
regiments. If it was not embraced with all the enthusi- 
asm that has been ascribed to the event, it was at least 
hailed with acclamations . . . The propriety of the meas- 
ure had been little canvassed among us . . . Being 
looked upon as unavoidable, if resistance was to be per- 
sisted in, it was approved ; and produced no resignations 
among the officers that I am aware of, except that of 
Lieutenant-Colonel William Allen . . . who was with 
his regiment in Canada.'* 

The Declaration was read at Ticonderoga^ on the 
28th, "^^immediately after divine worship ... by Col; 
St. Clair, and having said, ' God save the Free Independ- 
ant States of America ! * the army manifested their joy with 
three cheers. It was remarkably pleasing to see the 
spirits of the soldiers so raised after all their calamities ; 
the language of every man's countenance was. Now we 
are a people ! we have a name among the states of this 
world." 

The first publication of the Declaration in pursuance of 
the resolution of the Convention would seem to have been 
at White Plains, where the Convention was sitting. This 
was doubtless on the iith.^^ 

254 



ITS HIS TORT 

The formal publication in pursuance of the same 
resolution ^^ in New York City took place on the i8th, 
"^at the City HalP^, when a number of true Friends to 
the Rights and Liberties of America attended, and signi- 
fied their approbation by loud acclamations. After 
which, the British arms from over the seat of Justice in 
the Court House, was taken down, exposed, torn to 
pieces and burnt. Another British arms, wrought in 
stone, in the front of the pediment without, was thrown 
to the ground and broke to pieces, and the picture of 
King George III. which had been placed in the Council 
Chamber, was thrown out, broke, torn to pieces, and 
burnt, of all which the people testified their approbation 
by repeated huzzas.^^ The same day, we hear, the Brit- 
ish arms from all the churches in the city, were ordered ^^ 
to be removed and destroyed." 

Governor Tryon — from the " Ship Duchess of 
Gordon, off Staten-Island " — writes to Lord George 
Germaine, August 14th : " The confederated Colonies 
have declared themselves independent States. Enclosed 
is a printed copy ^^of their Declaration of Independency, 
which was published through the streets of New-York 
the middle of last month, where the King's statue has 
been demoUshed, as well as the King's arms in the City 
Hall, the established churches shut up, and every vestige 
of Royalty, as far as has been in the power of the Rebels, 
done away . . ." 

The celebration at Huntington, Long Island, took 
placeon July 22d. "^^ . . tliQ Freedom ^nd Independency y 
of the Thirteen United Colonies, was, with beat of drum, 
proclaimed at the several places of parade, by reading 

255 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

the Declaration . . . together with the Resolutions 
of our Provincial Convention thereupon ; which were 
approved and applauded by the animated shouts of the 
people, who were present from all the distant quarters of 
this district. After which, the flag which used to wave 
on Liberty-pole, having Liberty on one side, and George 
III, on the other, underwent a reform, i. e. the Union 
was cut off, and the letters GEORGE III. were dis- 
carded, being publickly ripped off; and then an effigy of 
the Personage, represented by those letters, being hastily 
fabricated out of base materials, with its face black like 
Dunmores Virginia Regiment, its head adorned with a 
wooden crown, and its head stuck full of feathers, like 
Carleton and Johnson s Savages, and its body wrapped in 
the Union, instead of a blanket or robe of State, and 
lined with gunpowder, which the original seems to be 
fond of — The whole, together with the letters above 
mentioned, was hung on a gallows, exploded and burnt 
to ashes. In the evening the Committee of this town, 
with a large number of the principle inhabitants sat 
around the genial board and drank 13 patriotic toasts, 
among which were. The free and independent States of 
America ; — The General Congress ; — The Conventions 
of the I J States ; — Our principal military Commander Sy 
and success and enlargement to the American Navy : Nor 
was the Memory of our late brave heroes, who have 
gloriously lost their lives in the cause of liberty, and 
their Country, forgotten." 

^^ Almost immediately after the adoption of the Declar- 
ation, "^^ about 150 tories in the Nine-Partners and 

256 



ITS HISTORY 

places adjacent [in Connecticut], rose in a body, fell upon 
the sons of liberty there, disarmed them, and took pos- 
session of the Committee Chamber.'* The uprising was 
" quelled by a party of near 3000 men from the western 
parts " of the Colony. About twenty were taken and 
confined in prison. 

No record has come down to us, however, of the 
proclamation of the Declaration (in Connecticut) ; and it 
seems almost certain that it was never, at least officially, 
proclaimed. 

The data upon the subject are mostly in the minutes 
of the Governor (Trumbull) and Council of Safety. 
Among the Council were Williams and Hosmer, alter- 
nates to Congress, and Dyer. 

The entry here for July nth is: " Congress Declara- 
tion of Independency received in a letter from Colonel 
Trumbull ^^ to me'^^" Those for the 1 2th^* say : " Letters 
from the Congress of the 6th instant came in, by express, 
containing information of their late Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and a copy of it, requesting the same to be 
duly published, &c." " The matter and manner of 
publishing the Independency as recommended by Con- 
gress largely discoursed, and many things given out rela- 
tive to the matter, &c., and concluded to lay by for the 
present period.*' On the i8th, "The matter of publish- 
ing the Independency [was] taken up again, and largely 
discoursed . . . and finally thought best^^ to let the 
matter of publishing the Independency remain for the 
determination of the General Assembly at their next 
stated session." 

The Assembly did not meet, however, until October; 
17 257 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE - 

and, though they approved (on the loth) the Declaration, 
they said nothing regarding its proclamation. 

Meanwhile, according to an item in a newspaper, 
headed Hartford, Monday, July 29th, " ^^ Last Sunday 
a Child was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Perry of East 
Windsor, by the Name of INDEPENDENCE." 

On December i6th, Mathew McHugh, an innkeeper 
of Lebanon, was committed to gaol for declaring against 
the Declaration. 

Governor Cooke — at Providence — received the 
letter of Hancock at least as early as the i6th; for, on 
that day, he acknowledges it, and writes, to Washing- 
ton : " I have also received from Congress the Declara- 
tion of Independency, and daily expect the Treaty of 
Confederation and Union, which hath induced me to 
call the General Assembly to meet on Thursday next 
[the 1 8th], when, I can safely assure you, they will give 
to both a hearty assent and concurrence." 

It was laid before the General Assembly on the day 
appointed and approved. 

Newport held her celebration two days later (July 
20th). " ^^ . . . the General Assembly . . . being then 
sitting at the State-house in this town, at twelve o'clock, 
the brigade stationed here, under the command of the 
Colonels William Richmond and Christopher Lippitt, 
Esqrs, marched from head-quarters, and drew up in two 
columns, on each side the parade, before the Statehouse 
door ; his honor the Governor and members of Assembly 
then marched through and received the compliments of 
the brigades ; afterwards the Secretary read, at the head 

25S 



m 



ITS HISTORT 

of the brigade, a resolve of the Assembly concurring 
with the Congress in the Declaration of Independence, 
the Declaration ^^ itself was then read ; next thirteen can- 
non were discharged at fort Liberty ; the brigade then drew 
up and fired in thirteen divisions, from east to west, 
agreeable to the number and situation of the United 
States. The Declaration was received with joy and 
applause by all ranks. The whole was conducted with 
great solemnity and decorum." 

It is of this occasion that Cooke — still at Providence 
— writes (on the 23d) when he says: "The Declaration 
was published on Saturday last, at Newport, with great 
solemnity, in presence of the whole General Assembly, 
the brigade being under arms, thirteen cannon fired, 
&c. It will be published here on Thursday, and in 
the several towns in the Colony, at their next stated 
meetings." 

The day this letter was written, "'^^ The Kentish 
guards [in East Greenwich], commanded by Col. Richard 
Fry, appeared in their uniforms; about 12 o'clock they 
drew up on the parade before the State-House when the 
Declaration . . . was read ; likewise a resolve of the 
Assembly concurring with the same ; which was an- 
nounced by a discharge of thirteen cannon at Fort 
Daniel ; next the guards fired thirteen volleys ; this was 
followed by three huzzas from a numerous body of in- 
habitants ; they then repaired to Arnold's Hall, where, 
after partaking of a very decent collation, the following 
patriotic toasts were drunk: i. The Thirteen United 
States of America. 2. The General Congress of the 
American States. 3. General Washington. 4. The 

259 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

American army. 5. Augmentation of the American 
navy. 6. In memory of those immortal heroes who 
have fallen in the American cause. 7. May a happy 
rule of government be established in the State of 
Rhode-Island. 8. American manufactures. 9. Free trade 
with all the world. 10. May true patriotism warm the 
breast of every American. 11. May the independency 
of the American States be firmly established, and a 
speedy peace take place. 12. May Liberty expand her 
sacred wings, and in glorious effort diffuse her influence 
o'er and o'er the globe." 

The demonstrations in Providence took place (Thurs- 
day, the 25th) as expected, at 11 o'clock. "^. . . the 
Governour, attended by such members of the Upper 
and Lower Houses of Assembly as were in town, and a 
number of the inhabitants went in procession to the 
State-House, escorted by the Cadet and Light Infantry 
companies, where at twelve o'clock was read the act of 
Assembly concurring with [the Declaration] . . . the 
Declaration was also read, at the conclusion of which 
thirteen volleys were fired by the Cadets and Light Infan- 
try; the Artillery Company next fired 13 cannon, and a 
like number of new cannon (cast at Hope Furnace) were 
discharged at the Great Bridge ; the ships Alfred and 
Columbus likewise fired 13 guns each, in honour of the 
day — At 2 o'clock his Honour the Governour, attended 
and escorted as above, proceeded to Hacker's-hall, where 
an elegant entertainment was provided on the occasion ; 
after dinner the following toasts were drank, viz. i. The 
13 free and Independent states of America. 2. The 
Most Hon. the General Congress. 3. The Army and 

260 



ITS BISTORT 

Navy of the United States. 4. The State of Rhode-Island 
and Providence plantations. 5. The Commerce of the 
United States. 6. Liberty to those who have spirit to 
assert it. 7. The friends of the United States in every 
part of the earth. 8. General Washington. 9. The 
Officers of the American army and navy. 10. May the 
Crowns of tyrants be crowns of thorns. 11. The memory 
of the brave officers and men who have fallen in defence 
of American Liberty. 12. May the Constitution of 
each separate State have for its object the preservation 
of the civil and religious rights of mankind. 13. May 
the Union of the States be established in justice and 
mutual confidence, and be as permanent as the pillars 
of nature. The artillery company, and a number of 
other gentlemen, dined the same day at Lindsey's tavern, 
when the following toasts were drank: i. The Free and 
Independent States of America. 2. The General Con- 
gress of the American States. 3. The Hon. JOHN 
HANCOCK, Esq ; 4. His Excellency General Wash- 
ington. 5. His Excellency General Lee. 6. The brave 
Carolinians. 7. Success to General Gates and the 
Northern army. 8. May the subtilty of the American 
Standard destroy the ferocity of the British lion. 9. The 
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 
10. The Hon. Governour Cooke. 11. May the Inde- 
pendent States of America forever be an asylum for 
liberty. 12. The American army and navy. 13. The 
Providence Independent company. The whole was 
conducted with great order and decency, and the declara- 
tion received with every mark of applause. Toward the 
evening the King of Great Britain's coat of arms was 

261 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

taken from the late public office, as was also the sign from 
the crown coifee-house and burnt." 

As we have seen, Hancock forwarded a copy of the 
Declaration to the General Court of Massachusetts on 
July 6th.^^ Three days later, Washington also sent them 
a copy ; and, on the day after, he writes to the President 
of Congress: "^^I have transmitted a Copy to General 
Ward at Boston, requesting him to have it proclaimed to 
the Continental Troops in that Department.'' 

The Declaration was first read publicly (in Massa- 
chusetts), it is claimed, by Isaiah Thomas, then only 
twenty-seven years of age. "^^In a letter in possession 
of Daniel Seagrave, dated July 2, 1897, Charles W. 
Burbank of Worcester writes that Samuel Smith, when 
city clerk of Worcester, told him the story of the reading 
of the Declaration as related by Capt. Benjamin Flagg, 
a resident of the town at the time — which was that 
' at about noon on Sunday, July 14th, 1776, a messenger 
on his way to Boston stopped at one of the taverns on 
Main street for dinner for himself and team. While 
waiting for his team to eat and rest he was met by Isaiah 
Thomas, who obtained from him a copy of the Declara- 
tion, which he took to the church and read from the 
porch ^*, which was on the west side of the building.' " 

In the Meeting House at Watertown on Tuesday, the 
1 6th ^^ occurred perhaps the most striking incident of all 
those which have come down to us. The Council of the 
Colony (and House of Representatives) — representing 
the other Colonies also — and delegates from St. John's 
and Michmac Tribes of Nova Scotia were then in con- 

262 



ITS HISTORT 

ference ; and the Declaration was interpreted and a copy 
of it exhibited to the Indians, and they were told by 
Bowdoin, the President, that they and the Americans 
were no longer subjects of the King. 

On the next day, the council " "' ORDERED, That 
the Declaration of Independence be printed ^^; and a 
copy sent to the Ministers of each Parish, of every De- 
nomination, within this State ; and that they severally be 
required to read^^ the same to their respective Congrega- 
tions, as soon as divine Service is ended, in the afternoon, 
on the first Lord's-Day after they shall have received it : 
. . . And after such Publication thereof, to deliver the 
said Declaration to the Clerks of their several Towns, or 
Districts ; who are hereby required to record the same 
in their respective town, or District Book there to remain 
as 2i -perpetual Memorial thereof* 

Already, on Monday as it would seem, at Southamp- 
ton, "^^The old Gentlemen, Grandfathers to the age of 
seventy years old, and upwards, [had] met, agreeable 
to appointment, and formed themselves into an inde- 
pendent company . . . and unanimously made choice 
of Elias Pelletreau Esq ; for their leader, (with other 
suitable officers) who made a very animating speech to 
them, on the necessity of holding themselves in readiness 
to go into the field in time of invasion ; they chearfuUy 
agreed to it, and determined, at the risk of their lives to 
defend the Free and Independent States of America. — " 

Thursday, July i8th, was the great day in Boston ^^. 

According to a newspaper account, the Declaration, 
"^^ pursuant to an order of the Honorable Council, was 
proclaimed from the Balcony of the State-House . . . 

263 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

There were present on the occasion, in the Council 
Chamber, the Committee of Council, a number of the 
Honorable House of Representatives, the Magistrates, 
Ministers, Selectmen, and other gentlemen of Boston and 
the neighbouring towns ; also the commission officers of 
the Continental Regiments stationed here [Boston], and 
other officers. Two of those regiments were under arms 
in King ^^-street, formed into three lines on the north side 
of the street, and in thirteen divisions ; and a detach- 
ment from the Massachusetts Regiment of artillery, with 
1 pieces of cannon, was on their right wing. At one 
o'clock the Declaration was proclaimed by Colonel 
Thomas Crafts [Sheriff of Suffolk County], which was 
received with great joy, expressed by three huzzas from 
a great concourse of people assembled on the occasion. 
After which, on a signal given, thirteen pieces of cannon 
were fired from the fort on Fort-hill, the forts at Dor- 
chester Neck, the Castle, Nantasket, and Point Alderton, 
likewise discharged their cannon : Then the detachment 
of Artillery fired their cannon thirteen tim.es, which was 
followed by the two regiments giving their fire from the 
thirteen divisions in succession. These firings corre- 
sponded to the number of the American States United. 
The ceremony was closed with a proper collation to 
the Gentlemen in the Council Chamber ; during which 
the following toasts were given by the President of the 
Council, and heartily pledged by the Company, viz : 
Prosperity and perpetuity to the United States of America, 
The American Congress. The General Court of the State of 
Massachusetts-Bay. General WASHINGTON, and suc- 
cess to the Arms of the United States. The downfall of 

264 



ITS HISTORT 

tyrants and tyranny. The universal prevalence of civil and 
religious liberty. The friends of the United States in all 
quarters of the globe. The belis in town were rung on 
the occasion, and undissembled festivity cheered and 
brightened every face. On the same evening the King*s 
arms, and every sign with a resemblance of it, whether 
lion and crown, pestle and mortar and crown, heart and 
crown, &c, together with every sign that belonged to a 
tory was taken down an^^ the latter made a general con- 
flagration of in King^^ street." 

a 94 'j'j-jgj-g ^^g published some years since in the 
(British) United Service Journal an account of the way 
independence was iirst proclaimed in Boston, written by 
a British officer, who in June 1776, had been captured 
on board a transport in the bay, and was then held as a 
prisoner in the town. He was invited, with other officers 
then on parole, to the Town House, on the i8th of July. 
^ As we passed through the town,' he says, ' we found it 
thronged ; all were in their holiday suits ; every eye 
beamed with delight, and every tongue was in rapid mo- 
tion. The streets adjoining the Council Chamber were 
lined with detachments of infantry tolerably equipped, 
while in front of the jail (Court Street) artillery was 
drawn up, the gunners with lighted matches. The crowd 
opened a lane for us, and the troops gave us, as we 
mounted the steps, the salute due to officers of our rank 
. . . Exactly as the clock struck one. Colonel Crafts, 
who occupied the chair, rose and read aloud the Declara- 
tion. This being finished, the gentlemen stood up, and 
each, repeating the words as they were spoken by an offi- 
cer, swore to uphold the rights of his country. Mean-- 

265 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

while the town clerk read from a balcony the Declaration 
to the crowd; at the close of which a shout, begun in 
the hall, passed to the streets, which rang with loud 
huzzas, the slow and measured boom of cannon, and the 
rattle of musketry . . . There was a banquet in the 
Council Chamber, where all the richer citizens appeared ; 
large quantities of liquor were distributed among this 
mob ; and when night closed in, darkness was dispelled 
by a general illumination.' ... It was now in front of 
the historic Bunch of Grapes tavern, on the upper cor- 
ner of State and Kilby streets, that all portable signs of 
royalty in the town, — such as the arms from the Town 
House, the Court House, and the Custom House, — 
were brought and thrown in a pile to make a bonfire.'* 

Yet another, and perhaps even more interesting ac- 
count, is found in a letter of the 2ist from Mrs. (Abi- 
gail) Adams to her husband, John Adams. She says : 
" [Ad] Last Thursday, after hearing a very good sermon, 
I went with the multitude into King Street to hear the 
Proclamation for Independence read and proclaimed. 
Some field-pieces with the train were brought there. 
The troops appeared under arms, and all the inhabitants 
assembled there (the small-pox prevented many thousands 
from the country), when Colonel Crafts read from the 
balcony of the State House the proclamation. Great at- 
tention was given to every word. As soon as he ended, 
the cry from the balcony was, ' God save our American 
States,' and then three cheers which rent the air. The 
bells rang, the privateers fired, the forts and batteries, the 
cannon were discharged, the platoons followed, and every 
face appeared joyful. Mr. Bowdoin then gave a senti- 

266 



ITS HISTORT 

ment, ' Stability and perpetuity to American Independ- 
ence. * After dinner, the King's Arms were taken down 
from the State House, and every vestige of him from 
every place in which it appeared, and burnt in King Street. 
Thus ends royal authority in this State. And all the 
people shall say Amen." 

Watertown honored the newly declared independence 
on the same day (the i8th). "^^ . . a number of the 
members of the Council (who were prevented attending 
the ceremony at Boston, on account of the small pox 
being there) together with those of the Hon. House of 
Representatives who were in town and a number of 
other Gentlemen assembled at the Council Chamber . . . 
where the said declaration was also proclaimed by the 
Secretary, from one of the windows : after which the Gen- 
tlemen present partook of a decent collation prepared on 
the occasion, and drank a number of constitutional Toasts, 
and then retired . . . The King's arms . . . was on 
Saturday last [July 20th], also defaced." 

The (at least main) celebration at Worcester took place 
on the 22d. "^*^. . . a number of patriotic gentlemen of 
this town, animated with a love of their country . . . 
assembled on the green near the liberty pole, where after 
having displayed the colours of the Thirteen Confederate 
Colonies of America, the bells were set a ringing, and the 
drums a beating : After which, the Declaration . . . was 
read to a large and respectable body (among whom were 
the Select-men and Committee of Correspondence) as- 
sembled on the occasion, who testified their approbation 
by repeated huzzas, firing of musquetry and cannon, bon- 
fires, and other demonstrations of joy — when the arms 

267 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

of that Tyrant in Britain, George the III. of execrable 
memory which in former reigns decorated, but of late 
disgraced the Court-House in this town, were committed 
to the flames and consumed to ashes ; after which a select 
company of the Sons of Freedom repaired to the Tavern, 
lately known by the sign of the King's Arms, which 
odious sinature of despotism was taken down by order of 
the people, which was chearfully complied with by the 
Innkeeper, where the following toasts were drank, and 
the Evening spent with joy, on the commencement of the 
happy sera. i. Prosperity and perpetuity to the United 
States of America. 2. The President of the General 
Council of America. 3. The Grand Council of America. 
4. His Excellency General Washington. 5. All the 
Generals in the American Army. 6. Commodore Hop- 
kins. 7. The Officers and Soldiers in the American 
Army. 8. The Officers and Seamen in the American 
Navy. 9. The patriots of America. 10. Every Friend 
of America. 11. George rejected and Liberty protected. 
12. Success to the American Arms. 13. Sore Eyes to 
all Tories, and a Chesnut Burr for an Eye Stone. 
14. Perpetual itching without the benefit of scratching 
to the Enemies of America. 15. The Council and Rep- 
resentatives of the State of Massachusetts-Bay. 16. The 
Officers and Soldiers in the Massachusetts service. 
17. The Memory of the brave General Warren. 18. The 
memory of the magnanimous General Montgomery. 
10 [19.] Speedy redemption to all the Officers and Sol- 
diers who are now Prisoners of war among our Enemies. 
20. The State of Massachusetts-Bay. 21. The town of 
Boston. 22. The Select-men and Committees of Corres- 

268 



ITS HISTORT 

pondence for the town of Worcester. 13 [23]. May 
the Enemies of America be laid at her Feet. 24. May 
the Freedom and Independency of America endure till the 
Sun grows dim with age, and this Earth returns to Chaos. 
The greatest decency and good order, was observed, and at 
a suitable time each man returned to his respective home.'' 

At Newburyport^^ on August 5th, "^^ . . the gentle- 
men belonging to the alarm list . . . were embodied on 
the Parade, where the Declaration ^^ was published — On 
which joyful occasion many zealous friends to the Rights 
and Liberties of this Country, attended, and testified 
their cordial approbation, by loud acclamations, and the 
discharge of cannon and small arms." 

Samuel Adams arrived ^^^ in Boston, August 28th. 

On the same day, " the General Assembly . . . con- 
vened at Watertown, agreeable to adjournment " ; and 
the Council — Bowdoin, Walter Spooner, Caleb Cush- 
ing, John Winthrop, Benjamin Chadbourn, Thomas 
Cushing, John Whetcomb, Benjamin Lincoln, Samuel 
Holten, Jabez Fisher, Richard Derby, Jr., Moses Gill, 
John Taylor, Benjamin White, William Phillips, Benjamin 
Austin, Joseph Cushing, David Sewell and D. Hopkins 
— sent a message to the House of Representatives which 
said : " This declaration we have ordered to be made 
publick, agreeable to the request of Congress, through 
every part of the Massachusetts-Bay, and we shall readily 
concur with you in expressing our approbation of the 
measure, and readiness to risk our lives and fortunes in 
defence and support of it." The House, in answer, 
expressed " their entire satisfaction in the Declaration 
of Independence . . ." 

269 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Meshech Weare^ at Exeter, answers Hancock's letter 
to the " Assembly '\ on the i6th : " It is with pleasure, 
I can assure you, that notwithstanding a very few months 
since many persons in this Colony were greatly averse 
to anything that looked like independence of Great 
Britain, the late measures planned and executing against 
us have so altered their opinions that such a Declaration 
was what they most ardently wished for; and I verily 
believe it will be received with great satisfaction through- 
out the Colony, a very few individuals excepted . . . 
P. S. The General Court and Committee of Safety sit 
at Exeter, where you will please to direct in future. 
This express went thirty miles out of his way, by being 
directed to Portsmouth." 

Two days later, " ^^^ (pursuant to an order of the Great 
and General Court of this state) the Independent Com- 
pany under Col. Sherburne, and the Light- Infantry Com- 
pany under Col. Langdon^^^, were drawn up on the 
parade [in Portsmouth], in their uniforms, when the 
Declaration ^^^ . . . was read, in the hearing of a nu- 
merous and respectable audience ; the pleasing coun- 
tenances of the many patriots present spoke a hearty 
concurrence in this interesting measure, which was 
confirmed by three huzzas, and all conducted in peace 
and good order." 

August ist was the day in Amherst "^^* Pursuant to 
orders from the committee of safety for said State to the 
sheriff of said county [Hillsborough], requiring him to 
proclaim Independency in Amherst the shire-town of 
said county, The sheriff, attended by the militia, a great 
part of the magistrates of the county, and several hundred 

270 



ITS HISTORT 

of other spectators met at the Meeting house in said 
town ; and after attending prayer, were formed into a 
circle on the parade, the sheriff in the center on horse 
back, with a drawn sword in his hand : The Declaration 
was read from an eminence on the parade, after that was 
done, three cheers were given, colours flying, and drums 
beating; the militia fired in thirteen divisions attended 
with universal acclamations. The whole was performed 
with the greatest decorum." 

The Council of Safety of Maryland — Jenifer, Charles 
Carroll and James Tilghman seeming to have been 
present — ordered, July 13th ^^^ " [Md] That Copies 
of the Letter ^°^ received from the President of the Con- 
gress, of the 8^** Inst, be sent to the several committees 
of Observation in each County and District in this Prov- 
ince respectively." Its letters carrying out this order 
were dated the i6th. They said: " [Md] Inclosed 
we send you the declaration of Independence, and the 
Letter that accompanied it from Congress to the Con- 
vention ... we transmit the Declaration to you that 
you may proclaim it in your County in the manner 
you Judge most proper for the Information of the 
People." 

The Committee of Frederic County, Middle District, 
answered, by John Hanson, Jr., its chairman, on the 
a5th. The letter acknowledged the one from the Coun- 
cil to them "[Md] inclosing several resolves and the 
Declaration of Independency to the contents of which 
papers due attention will be paid." 

The Committee of Baltimore, of which Samuel Purvi- 

271 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

ence was chairman, on the 23d, " Resolved, That on 
Monday next the Declaration ... be proclaimed at the 
Court-House of the County," and " Ordered, That 
Messrs. William Smith, John Boyd, and Benjamin Levy, 
together with the General and Field Officers of the Town 
Battalion, and of the Independent Company, be a Com- 
mittee to form the regulation of the procession . . . 
The Committee acquainted Mr. Robert Christie, Jun., 
(Sheriff of this County) of the time agreed on . . . 
and at the same time requested him to attend at the 
same time, and proclaim Independency; which he 
promised to do." When the day came, however, the 
Declaration " was proclaimed by Mr. William Aisquith, 
(Mr. Christie being out of Town:^^^) Captain Nathaniel 
Smith's Company of Matrosses, Captain John Sterrett's 
Company of Independents, Captain John Smith's, Cap- 
tain James Cox's, Captain George Wells's, and Captain 
William Richardson's Companies being drawn up under 
arms on the occasion." ^^^ 

The Declaration was laid (by the Council of Safety) 
before the Convention, August i6th-^^^ The Conven- 
tion " Ordered, That the same be taken into considera- 
tion tomorrow morning." On the next day, — Chase, 
Goldsborough, Paca, Charles Carroll, Charles Carroll of 
CarroUton and (Matthew) Tilghman being present ^^^ — 
it was resolved that the " Convention will maintain the 
freedom and independency of the United States, with 
their lives and fortunes." Two days later, " On motion, 
[it was] Ordered, That the Resolution of Saturday, re- 
specting the Declaration of Independence, be published 
in the Maryland Gazette'' 

272 



ITS HISTORT 

John Page "^ President of the Council of Virginia, in 
acknowledging to Hancock ^^^ the receipt of the Declara- 
tion, mailed on the 8th, writes, July 20th, that the people 
" have been impatiently expecting it, and will receive it 
with joy." 

On the same day, the Council " "^ Ordered, That the 
printers publish ^^* in their respective Gazettes the DEC- 
LARATION . . . and that the sheriff of each county 
in this commonwealth proclaim the same at the door of 
his courthouse the first court day after he shall have re- 
ceived the same." 

In pursuance of this ""^ order of the Hon. Privy 
Council, the DECLARATION . . . was solemnly pro- 
claimed" in Williamsburg on the afternoon of the 25th 
"at the Capitol, the Courthouse, and the Palace, amidst 
the acclamations of the people, accompanied by firing of 
cannon and musketry, the several regiments of continen- 
tal troops having been paraded on that solemnity." 

Eleven days later (August 5th), "^^^ being court day," 
it was proclaimed in Richmond, " before a large con- 
course of respectable freeholders of Henrico County, 
and upwards of 200 of the Militia, who assembled on 
that grand occasion. It was received with universal 
shouts of joy ; and re-echoed by three voUies of small 
arms. The same evening the town was illuminated, and 
the members of the Committee held a club, when many 
patriotic toasts were drunk. Although there were near 
1000 people present, the whole was conducted with the 
utmost decorum ; and the satisfaction visible in every 
countenance sufficiently evinces their determination to 
support it with their lives and fortunes." 
18 273 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

The " goings on " in North Carolina — so far as 
they have come down to us — centered about Cornelius 
Harnett. 

On July 22d^^^, the Council of Safety — having met 
at 8 o'clock in the morning — " [NC] Resolved That 
the Committees of the respective Towns and Counties in 
this Colony on receiving the . . . Declaration ^^^, do 
cause the same to be proclaimed in the most public 
Manner in Order that the good people of this Colony 
may be fully informed thereof/* 

On the 25thj the same body, taking into consideration 
the fact that the " [NC] Declaration renders the Test as 
directed to be subscribed by the Congress at Halifax im- 
proper and Nugatory. Resolved, That a Test as follows 
be substituted in lieu thereof and subscribed by the 
Members of this Board : We the Subscribers do . . . 
Solemnly and sincerely promise and engage under the 
Sanction of Virtue honor and the sacred Love of Liberty 
and our country, to Maintain and support all and every 
the Acts, Resolutions and Regulations of the said Con- 
tinental and provincial Congresses to the utmost of our 
powers and Abilities. In Testimony whereof we have 
hereto set our Hands at Halifax, this 24^^ day of July 
1776. Corn' Harnett, Willie Jones, Tho' Person, Whit- 
mill Hill, Thomas Eaton, John Simpson, Jos. Jno. 
Williams, Thos. Jones, James Coor." 

Again, on the 27th, they " [NC] Resolved, That 
Thursday the first day of August next be set apart for 
proclaiming the said declaration at the Court House in 
the Town of Halifax; the freeholders and Inhabitants 
of the County of Halifax are requested to give their 
Attendance at the time and place aforesaid." 

274 



ITS HIS TORT 

" "9 On the appointed day an immense concourse of 
people assembled at Halifax to witness the interesting 
ceremony of a public proclamation of the Declaration of 
Independence. The Provincial troops and militia com- 
panies were drawn up in full array, to witness the scene 
and to swear by their united acclamations to consum- 
mate the deed. At mid-day Cornelius Harnett ascended 
a rostrum which had been erected in front of the Court 
House, and then as he opened the scroll, upon which 
was written the immortal words of the Declaration, the 
enthusiasm of the immense crowd broke in one sv/ell of 
rejoicing and prayer. The reader proceeded to his task, 
and read the Declaration to the mute and impassioned 
multitude with the solemnity of an appeal to Heaven. 
When he had finished, all the people shouted with joy, 
and the cannon, sounding from fort, to fort, proclaimed 
the glorious tidings . . . The soldiers seized Mr. Har- 
nett, and bore him on their shoulders through the streets 
of the town, applauding him as their champion, and 
swearing allegiance to the instrument he had read." 

Still further action — remedial in its nature — was taken 
by the Council of Safety on August 6th. " [NC] ... as 
it appears that there is no Committee in the County 
of Cumberland, [they] Resolved, That Colonel Ebenezer 
Folesome and Colonel David Smith or either of them on 
receiving the said declaration call a General Meeting of 
the Inhabitants of the said County, and that they or either 
of them cause the same to be read and proclaimed in 
the most public manner in order that the good people 
of this State may be fully informed thereof . . ." 

« 120 'pj^g Declaration ^^^ . . . was sent on by express, 

275 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

and received on the last of July ^^^ in Charleston ", South 
Carolina. 

Her Delegates — Thomas Lynch, Sr., Edward Rut- 
ledge, Arthur Middleton, Heyward and Thomas Lynch, 
Jr. — wrote, in their letter, dated Philadelphia, July 9th : 
" Enclosed also, are some other occasional resolutions of 
Congress, and a very important Declaration, which the King 
. . . has at last reduced us to the necessity of making.^^ 
All the Colonies were united upon this great subject, ex- 
cept New-York, whose Delegates were restrained by an in- 
struction given several months ago . . . P. S. The express 
is to be paid for every day that he is detained in Carohna." 

The time was especially propitious ; for the battle of 
Fort Moultrie had occurred on the 28th ^^ of June pre- 
ceding, and the Colony had, therefore, at last, tasted 
some of the bitterness of war, with which the northern 
Colonies, directly or indirectly, had been long familiar. 

cc 120 "Yht importance of this measure was duly appre- 
ciated by the civil authorities, and they determined that 
the announcement should be as imposing and impressive 
as possible. The civil ^^^ and military were all paraded, 
and the reverend gentlemen of the clergy of all denomi- 
nations were invited, and did very generally unite to 
countenance and solemnize the ceremony. The Liberty 
Tree ^^^, in Mazych borough . . . was the favorite resort 
for all meetings of the people, with revolutionary objects, 
during the preceding ten or twelve years. The popular 
feeling for this tree associated with its name, induced the 
governor and council to select this as the place for the 
first declaration of independence. Thither the proces- 
sion moved from the city, on the 5th of August, em- 

276 



ITS HISTORT 

bracing all the young and old, of both sexes, who could 
be moved so far. Aided by bands of music, and uniting 
all the military of the country and city, in and near 
Charleston, the ceremony was the most splendid and 
solemn that ever had been witnessed in South-Caro- 
lina.^^^ It was opened by prayers, offered up to the 
throne of the Most High, by the Rev. Mr. William 
Percy, of the Episcopal Church. The declaration was 
then read in the most impressive manner by Major 
Barnard Elliott, and closed with an elegant and appro- 
priate address by the same reverend gentleman, inspiring 
the crowded audience with piety and patriotism. It 
was followed by a universal burst of applause, by loud 
huzzas and animating cheers. The infantry responded 
with a general feu de joie, and the discharge of can- 
non echoed and re-echoed the general enthusiasm . . . 
There were always secret enemies and informers in our 
country, and this ceremony was described soon after 
in the British prints with as much ridicule as possible. 
Among other circumstances, the day was said to have 
been very hot, and the reverend gentleman, while ad- 
dressing the audience, was shaded by an umbrella, held 
over him by his servant, a negro man. As the crowd 
pressed forward, and the orator became warm with his 
ardor of patriotism, his countenance also glowed with the 
actual heat of the weather, the ardor of sunshine. The 
black servant was then observed to be fanning his mas- 
ter, while holding the umbrella over him, and the British 
Narrator observed on the circumstance : 
" Good Mr. Parson, it is not quite civil 
To be preaching rebellion, thus fanned by the devil." 

277 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

The General Assembly, however, was not in session, 
and did not convene until the 17th of September — and 
then only by proclamation of John Rutledge. 

On the 19th, Rutledge ^^^ " delivered to both Houses " 
a speech in which he said : " Since your last meeting, the 
Continental Congress have declared the United Colonies 
free and independent States ... an event which neces- 
sity had rendered not only justifiable but unavoidable. 
The Declaration, and several resolves of that honourable 
body received during your recess, shall be laid before 
you. I doubt not you will take such measures as may 
be requisite in consequence of them." 

This speech, on the same day, was referred to a com- 
mittee composed of Rawlins Lowndes, Charles Pinckney, 
the Attorney General, Rev. William Tennent, John 
Edwards, John Neufville, Isaac Motte, Phillip Smith 
and Roger Smith ; and, on the next day, Lowndes re- 
ported a draft of a reply, which declared : " It is with the 
most unspeakable pleasure we embrace this opportunity of 
expressing our joy and satisfaction in the declaration . . . 
declaring the United Colonies free and independent States, 
absolved from allegiance to the British Crown ... an 
event unsought for, and now produced by unavoidable 
necessity . . '' Immediately upon the reading of this draft, 
a motion was made to strike out the words " unspeakable 
pleasure ", and a debate '^'^ ensued ; but the amendment 
failed of being carried. The draft, however, was amended 
so that the reply, when adopted, on the same day, read : 
" It is with unspeakable pleasure we embrace this oppor- 
tunity of expressing our satisfaction . . . constituting the 
United Colonies free and independent States . . ." 

278 



ITS HISTORT 

This reply was presented to Rutledge on the 2istj in 
the Council Chamber, where he had come especially " to 
receive the House with their Address"; and, when "Mr. 
Speaker, with the House . . . returned [to its chamber], 
Mr. Speaker reported that he, with the House, having 
attended the President in the Council Chamber with 
their Address in answer to his Speech his Excellency 
had been pleased to reply in the following words : ' . . . 
May the happiest consequences be derived . . . from 
the independence of America, who could not obtain even 
peace, liberty and safety by any other means.* " 

The Legislative Council replied to the speech, on the 
20th: "The Declaration . . . calls forth all our atten- 
tion. It is an event which necessity has rendered not 
only justifiable but absolutely unavoidable. It is a 
decree now worthy of America. We thankfully receive 
the notification of and rejoice at it ; and we are deter- 
mined at every hazard to endeavour to maintain it . . ." 

Rutledge responded to this reply, on the same day : 
"Your determination to endeavour to maintain the inde- 
pendence of the United States, at every hazard, proves 
that you know the value and are deserving of those 
rights for which America contends." 

The Declaration was approved by the grand jury of 
Charleston on October 15th. 

Very naturally, it also was late before Georgia celebrated 
the action of Congress in declaring independence. On 
August loth, however, " ^^ A Declaration being received 
from the Honourable John Hancock, Esq. ... his Ex- 
cellency the President [Bullock], and the Honourable the 

279 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Council met in the Council-Chamber [in Savannah], and 
read the Declaration. — They then proceeded to the 
square before the Assembly House, and read it likewise 
to a great concourse of people, when the grenadier and 
light infantry companies fired a general volley. After 
this, they proceeded in the following procession to 
Liberty Pole : — The grenadiers in front — The Provost 
Marshal, on horseback, with his sword drawn — The Sec- 
retary with the Declaration — His Excellency the Presi- 
dent — The Honourable the Council and gentlemen 
attending — Then the light infantry, and the rest of the 
militia of the town and district of Savannah. At the 
Liberty Pole they were met by the Georgia battalion, 
who, after the reading of the Declaration, discharged their 
field pieces, and fired in platoons. Upon this they pro- 
ceeded to the battery, at the Trustees Gardens, where the 
Declaration was read for the last time, and the cannon of 
the battery discharged. His Excellency and Council, 
Col. Lachlan Mcintosh, and other gentlemen, with the 
militia, dined under the cedar trees, and "cheerfully drank 
to the United, Free, and Independant States of America. 
In the evening the town was illuminated, and there was 
exhibited a very solemn funeral procession, attended by 
the grenadier and light infantry companies, and other 
militia, with their drums, mulBed, and fifes, and a greater 
number of people than ever appeared on any occasion 
before in this province, when George the Third was 
interred before the court-house in the following manner: 
' Forasmuch as George the Third, of Great Britain, hath 
most flagrantly violated his coronation oath, and trampled 
upon the constitution of our country, and the sacred 

280 



ITS HISTORY 

rights of mankind, we therefore commit his political 
existence to the ground, corruption to corruption, tyranny 
to the grave, and oppression to eternal infamy ; in sure 
and certain hope that he will never obtain a resurrec- 
tion to rule again over these United States of America ; 
but my friends and fellow citizens, let us not be sorry, as 
men without hope, for TYRANTS that thus depart; 
rather let us remember America is free and independent, 
that she is, and will be, with the blessing of the Almighty, 
GREAT among the nations of the earth. Let this 
encourage us in well doing, to fight for our rights and 
privileges, for our wives and children, for all that is near 
and dear to us. May God give us his blessing, and let 
all the people say AMEN.' " 

<c 131 \Yith similar joy was the Declaration of Independ- 
ence welcomed in the other parishes of Georgia. St. 
John's Parish, the Home of Hall and Gwinnett, two of 
the signers, was most pronounced in its demonstrations 
of approval." 



281 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



XII 

THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY IN PHILADELPHIA 



F 



"^^■"^iRIDAY, the4th of July inst. [1777] being the 
Anniversary of the Independence of the United 
States of America, was celebrated in this city 
[Philadelphia] with demonstrations of joy and festivity. 
About noon all the armed ships and galiies in the river 
were drawn up before the city, dressed in the gayest 
manner, with the colours of the United States and 
streamers displayed. At one o'clock, the yards being 
properly manned, they began the celebration of the day 
by a discharge of thirteen cannon from each of the ships, 
and one from each of the thirteen galiies, in honour of 
the thirteen United States. In the afternoon an elegant 
dinner was prepared for Congress, to which were invited 
the President and Supreme Executive Council, and 
Speaker of the Assembly of this State, the General Offi- 
cers and Colonels of the army, and strangers of eminence, 
and the Members of the several Continental Boards in 
town. The Hessian band of music, taken in Trenton 
the 26th of December last, attended, and heightened the 
festivity with some fine performances suited to the joyous 
occasion, while a corps of British deserters, taken into the 
service of the continent by the state of Georgia, being 
drawn up before the door, filled up the intervals with 

282 



ITS HISTORT 

feux de joie. After dinner a number of toasts were 
drank, all breathing independence, and a generous love 
of liberty, and commemorating the memories of those 
brave and worthy patriots who gallantly exposed their 
lives, and fell gloriously in defence of freedom and the 
righteous cause of their country. Each toast was fol- 
lowed by a discharge of artillery and small arms, and a 
suitable piece of music by the Hessian band. The 
glorious fourth of July was reiterated three times, ac- 
companied with triple discharges of cannon and small 
arms, and loud huzzas that resounded from street to 
street through the city. Towards evening several troops 
of horse, a corps of artillery, and a brigade of North- 
Carolina forces, which was in town on its way to join 
the grand army were drawn up in Second-street, and 
received by Congress and the General Officers. The 
evening was closed with the ringing of bells, and at night 
there was a grand exhibition o^ ^reworks (which began 
and concluded with thirteen rockets) on the commons, 
and the city was beautifully illuminated. Everything 
was conducted with the greatest order and decorum, and 
the face of joy and gladness was universal." 



283 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



XIII 

THE DECLARATION ON PARCHMENT, SINCE 1776 



N January 18, 1777, as shown by the Journal, 
Congress, which was then sitting in Baltimore, 



O 

Ordered 

R esoJ ^ '/ sd That an authenticated copy ^ of the declaration of inde- 
pendency with the names of the pcrsonG members of Congress sub- 
scribing the same, be sent to each of the united states & that they 
be desired to have the same put upon record 

At this time, therefore, the Declaration on parchment 
must, in all probability, have been in that city.^ 

Henceforth until sometime during the administration 
of Pickering as Secretary of State (December, 1795, ^^ 
May 12, 1800), and thenceforth until 18 14, we have 
found no proof of its whereabouts. 

We know, however, that, on September 15, 1789, an 
Act was approved providing "[D^] That the Executive 
department, denominated the Department of Foreign 
Affairs, shall hereafter be denominated the Department 
of State ^, and the principal officer therein shall hereafter 
be called the Secretary of State *' and " That the said 
Secretary shall forthwith after his appointment be entitled 
to have the custody and charge ... of all books, records 

284 






_? g o 5 









■^ -^-MdiSSI 



In congress, Julv 4, 1776. 
TII£ UNANIMOUS 

DECLARATION 

o I' T }r K 




_ Authenticated copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed by Mary Katha- 
rine Goddard, in Baltimore, under an order of Congress (See p. 284) dated January 
10, 1777. Talcen from the copy in the Library of Congress, in Washington. 



ITS HISTORT 

and papers, remaining in the office of the late Secretary 
of the United States in Congress assembled . . ." 

We know also that — strangely enough — Jefferson 
was appointed the first Secretary of State, and was con- 
firmedj September 26th. 

M-.Kean, in his letter of January, 18 14, to John Adams, 
as we have seen ^, tells us : 

In the manuscript journal, M; Pickering, then Secretary of 
State, and myself saw a printed half sheet of paper^ with the 
names of the members afterwards in the printed journals, stitched 
in. We examined the parchment where my name is signed in 
my own hand-writing. — 

This examination doubtless took place just previous to 
the writing by MiKean of his letter (August 4, 1796) to 
Dallas ; for, in that letter ^, he says that he 

signed the declaration after it had been engrossed on parchment 
where my name, in my own hand-writing, still appears . . . 

. . . The manuscript public Journal has no names annexed to 
the declaration of independence, nor has the secret Journal; but 
it appears by the latter, that on the 19th day of July, 1776, the 
Congress directed that it should be engrossed on parchment, and 
signed by every member^ and that it was so produced on the 2d 
August, and signed. This is interhned in the secret Journal, in 
the hand-writing of Charles Thompson, Esquire, the Secretary. 
The present Secretary of State of the United States and myself 
have lately inspected the Journals, and seen this. 

Indeed, also, in his letter (June 16, 18 17) to Messrs. 
Wm. M'Corkle & Son ^, he says : 

Afterwards, in 1797, when the late A. J. Dallas, Esq. then 
Secretary of the Commonwealth, was appointed to publish an 

285 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

edition of the laws, on comparing the names published as sub- 
scribed to the Declaration of Independence, he observed a vari- 
ance, and the omission, in some publications, of the name 
of Thomas M'Kean ; having procured a certificate from the 
Secretary of State that the name of Thomas M'Kean vi^as 
affixed in his own handwriting to the original Declaration of 
Independence . . . 

Of course, we may safely assume that the Declara- 
tion on parchment was among the papers which were 
transferred from Philadelphia to Washington, in 1800, 
when the seat of government was changed, of which John 
Adams, in his message to Congress, November 2 2d of 
that year, says: "[D] Immediately after the adjourn- 
ment of Congress [May 14th] at their last session in 
Philadelphia I gave directions, in compliance with the 
laws, for the removal of the public offices, records, and 
property. These directions have been executed '^, and 
the public officers have since resided and conducted the 
ordinary business of the Government in this place." 

In 1 8 14, the British, under Admiral Cockburn and 
General Ross, visited the city (Washington) and burned 
the Capitol and other public buildings. Most of the 
citizens fled from their homes, and many of the records 
of the government were carted into the country to save 
them from destruction. Madison was President, and 
Mrs. Dolly Madison, it seems, was among the last to 
flee from the White House after the news of the defeat 
of the Americans at Bladensburg. 

Lossing^ tells us that, "snatching up the precious 
parchment on which was written the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence and the autographs of the signers, which she 

286 



ITS HISTORT 

had resolved to save also, she hastened to the carriage 
with her sister (Mrs. Cutts) and her husband, and two 
servants, and was borne away to a place of safety beyond 
the Potomac.'' 

For this beautiful story, however, we regret that we 
have been unable to find any authority. 

Indeed, General S. Pleasonton directly assures us that 
the Declaration was in the Department of State and that 
it was taken thence to the Virginia side of the Potomac. 
In a letter to William H. Winder at Philadelphia, dated 
Washington, August 7, 1848, he says: 

9 1 have had the honor to receive your letter of the 5th in- 
stant . . . 

After a lapse of 34 years I may not be perfectly accurate in 
my recollection of all the circumstances . . . but I will, with 
great pleasure, state them as they now occur to my memory . . . 

Soon after learning that the British fleet were in the Chesa- 
peake, we learned also that they were ascending the Patuxent, 
evidently with the view of attacking this city. Upon receiving 
this information, which was about a week before the enemy 
entered Washington, Col. Monroe, then Secretary of State, 
mounted his horse, and proceeded to Benedict, a small village 
on the Patuxent, where the British forces were being landed . . . 
he sent a note^^, either to Mr. John Graham, the chief clerk of 
the office, or myself, (I do not remember which,) by a vidette, 
advising us to take the best care of the books and papers of the 
office which might be in our power. Whereupon I proceeded to 
purchase coarse linen, and cause it to be made into bags of con- 
venient size, in which the gentlemen of the office, assisted by 
me, placed the books and other papers, after which I obtained 
carts, and had them conveyed to a grist mill, then unoccupied, 
belonging to Mr. Edgar Patterson, situated a short distance on 

287 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

the Virginia side of the Potomac, beyond the chain-bridge, so 
called, two miles above Georgetown. 

Whilst engaged in the passage way of the building with the 
papers, the Department of State being on one side, and the War 
Department on the other side of the passage, General Arm- 
strong ^i, then Secretary of War, on his way to his own room, 
stopped a short time, and observed to me, that he thought we 
were under unnecessary alarm, as he did not think the British 
were serious in their intentions of coming to Washington. I 
replied that we were under a different belief, and let their inten- 
tions be what they might, it was the part of prudence to preserve 
the valuable papers of the Revolutionary Government ^^^ com- 
prising the declaration of Independence i^, the laws, the secret 
journals of Congress, then not published, the correspondence of 
General Washington . . . 

Considering the papers unsafe at the mill, as, if the British 
forces got to Washington, they would probably detach a force 
for the purpose of destroying a foundry for cannon and shot in 
its neighborhood, and would be led by some evil disposed person 
to destroy the mill and papers also, I proceeded to some farm 
houses in Virginia, and procured wagons, in which the books 
and papers were deposited, and I proceeded with them to the 
town of Leesburg, a distance of 35 miles, at which place an 
empty house was procured, in which the papers were safely 
placed, the doors locked, and the keys given to Rev. Mr. Little- 
john, who was then, or had been, one of the collectors of internal 
revenue. 

Being fatigued with the ride, and securing the papers, I retired 
early to bed, and was informed next morning by the people of 
the hotel where I staid, that they had seen, the preceding night, 
being the 24th of August, a large fire in the direction of Wash- 
ington, which proved to be a light from the public buildings the 
enemy had set on fire, and burned them to the ground. 

288 



m 



ITS HIS TORT 

On the 26th of August I returned to Washington, and found 
the President's house and public offices still burning, and learned 
that the British army had evacuated the city the preceding 
evening . . . 

As a part of the British fleet soon afterwards ascended the 
Potomac, and plundered Alexandria of a large quantity of flour 
and tobacco, threatening Washington at the same time with a 
second invasion, it was not considered safe to bring the papers of 
the State Department back for some weeks, not, indeed, until 
the British fleet generally had left the waters of the Chesa- 
peake. In the meantime it was found necessary for me to 
proceed to Leesburg occasionally, for particular papers, to which 
the Secretary of State had occasion to refer in the course of his 
correspondence. 

The next link in the history of the Declaration on 
parchment is found in a letter (received at the Senate, 
January 2, 1824) of John Quincy Adams, Secretary of 
State, and in a resolution of Congress (of May 26th) 
thereupon. These say : 

[D] ... an exact facsimile, engraved on copperplate^*, has 
been made by direction of this department, of the original copy 
of the Declaration of Independence, engrossed on parchment 
. . . Two hundred copies have been struck off from this plate, 
and are now at the office of the department, subject to the 
disposal of Congress. 

[D] Resolved, That the two hundred copies of the Declaration 
of Independence, now in the Department of State, be distributed 
in the manner following : two copies to each of the surviving 
signers ^^ of the Declaration of Independence ; two copies to the 
President of the United States ; two copies to the Vice President 
of the United States ; two copies to the late President, Mr. 
Madison; two copies to the Marquis de Lafayette; twenty 
19 289 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

copies for the two Houses of Congress ; twelve copies for the 
different Departments of the Government ; two copies for the 
President's house; two copies for the Supreme Court room ; one 
copy to each of the Governors of the States ; and one to each 
branch of the Legislatures of the States ; one copy to each of 
the Governors of the Territories of the United States ; and 
one copy to the Legislative Council of each Territory ; and the 
remaining copies to the different Universities and Colleges of the 
United States, as the President of the United States may direct. 

We have also, as we shall see^^, a letter of February 
25, 1840, from R. H. Lee, the grandson, which speaks 
of the Declaration "at Washington ". 

Then comes a letter from Daniel Webster, Secretary 
of State, to Henry L. Ellsworth, Commissioner of 
Patents. It bears date June 11, 1841, and says: 

1^ Having learned that there is in the new building appropriated 
to the Patent Office suitable accommodations for the safe-keeping, 
as well as the exhibition of the various articles now deposited 
in this Department, and usually exhibited to visitors ... I 
have directed them to be transmitted to you . . . 

You will also receive the articles enumerated in the annexed 
schedule, C, which have been deposited in the Department since 
. . . [January 14] 1834, or which ^^, having been usually 
exhibited to visitors at this Department, may be interesting to 
those calling at the Patent Office. 

SCHEDULE C 

6. The Original Declaration of Independence 

On February 6, 1877, a letter was written from the 
Department of State, signed by Secretary Hamilton Fish, 

290 



ITS HISTORT 

to Zachariah Chandler, Secretary of the Interior, which 
reads : 

^^ It appears from a letter of my predecessor, Mr. Webster 
. . . that, for the reasons therein set forth, certain articles 
which had previously been lodged in this Department, were 
transferred to the custody of the Patent Office, which was then 
under the supervision of the Secretary of State. The connection 
of this Department with that office was severed by the act of 
Congress of the 3!! of March 1849, creating the Department of 
the Interior, and the functions of the Secretary of State in respect 
to Patents were devolved upon the Secretary of the Interior, but 
the articles transferred to the Patent Office above adverted to 
were not returned to this Department. 

This Department now occupies the new, fire-proof and 
spacious edifice which has been constructed for its use, and it 
is considered that it would be preferable for such of the articles 
which were sent to the Patent Office as are records or papers 
(the custody of which it is believed is by the Statute intrusted to 
this Department,) should be returned here for future custody. 

I would consequently request the return of the original Dec- 
laration of Independence . . . 

I have consulted with the President, and have conferred ver- 
bally with yourself on this subject, and in pursuance of your 
suggestion, I have submitted this application to the President, 
who has endorsed his approval thereon, and his authorization of 
the return of the documents referred to. 

Below Fish's signature is the following : 

Executive Mansion, February 6, 1877. 
The custody of the original Declaration of Independence . . . 
appearing to be by law placed with the Secretary of State, I ap- 
prove the request made by him for their return to the Department 

291 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

and hereby authorize such return to be made by the Hon. the 
Secretary of the Interior. U. S. Grant 

The letter (in reply), returning the Declaration on 
parchment to the Department of State, is signed by 
Chandler and bears date March 3d. It says : 

[S] I . . . forward, herewith, the original Declaration of 
Independence, and the Commission of General George Washing- 
ton, as Commander-in-Chief. 

CompHance with your request relative to these papers, was 
delayed by an effort on the part of prominent citizens of Phil- 
adelphia to have them retained permanently in Independence 
Hall, where they were placed during the Centennial Exhibition. 

After its return to the Department of State, the 
Declaration on parchment, for many years, was enclosed 
in a cabinet^ on the eastern side of the Library, where now 
is 3. facsimile of it. 

Since April 23, 1894, it has reposed in a steel safe^^ in 
the same room. The transfer was ordered, because the 
light ^^ was fading it rapidly. 

At the present time, the heavy handwriting of Han- 
cock is scarcely visible ; and only a few of the names can 
be plainly read.^^ 



292 



Appendix 



Appendix 

JEFFERSON'S NOTES^ 



I. 

*In Congress. Friday June 7. 1776. the Delegates from Virginia moved in obedience 
to instructions from their constituents that the Congress should declare 
that these United colonies are & of right ought to be free & independant 
states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and 
that all political connection between them & the state of Great Britain 
is & ought to be totally dissolved j that measures should be immediately 
taken for procuring the assistance oi foreign powers, and a Confedera- 
tion be formed to bind the colonies more closely together. 

The house being obliged to attend at that time to some other business, 
the rooolution ^ proposition was referred to the next day when the members 
were ordered to attend punctually at ten o'clock. 

Saturday June 8. theyf^sol ^ion proposed was howev proceeded to 
take^^into consideration and referred it to a committee of the whole, into 

they 4 ^ 

which 4t^immediately resolved themselves, and passed that day & Mon- 
day the IO*^ in debating on the subject. 

It was argued by Wilson, Robert R. Livingston, 

[The remainder of page i and all of pages 2, 3, 4 and 5 of 
the notes 3.re to be found at p. 11 1. The following is on the 
reverse side of page 5 :] 

6. 

It appearing in the course of these debates that the colonies of N. York, 

& South Carolina 

New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware -& Maryland^-h cad not yet advanced 
te were not yet matured for falling >eff ^ from the parent stem, but that they 
were fast advancing to that state, it was thought most prudent to wait 
a while for them, and to postpone the final decision to July i . but that 

295 



V 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

this might occasion as Httle delay as possible a committee was appointed to 
prepare a declaration of independance. the comniee were J. Adams, 
Df Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston & myself, com- 
mittees were also appointed at the same time to prepare a plan of con- 
federation for the colonies, and to state the terms proper to be proposed 
for foreign alliance, the committee for drawing the declaration of Inde- 

do 

pendance desired me to prepare it. -I-dki-se ^ it was accordingly done, 

and being approved by them, I reported it to the house on Friday the 

28* of June when it was read and ordered to lie on the table, on Monday June a8.7 

the \^} of July the house resolved itself into a commee of the whole & July i. 

resumed the consideration of the original motion made by the delegates of 

Virginia, which being again debated through the day, was carried in the 

affirmative by the votes of N. Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusets, 

Rhode island, N. Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, N. Carolina, & Georgia. 

S. Carolina and Pennsylvania voted against it. Delaware having but two 

members present, they were divided ; the delegates for New York declared 

they were for it themselves & were assured their constituents were for it, 

but that their instructions having been drawn near a twelvemonth before, 

when reconciliation was still the general object, they were enjoined by 

them to do nothing which should impede that object, they therefore 

thought themselves not justifiable in voting on either side, and asked leave 

to withdraw from the question, which thoy ^ had ^ was given them, the 

Edward » 

Commee rose & reported their resolution to the house. mr^^Rutlege of 

requested 10 

S. Carolina then desired the determination might be put oiF to the next 

day, as he believed his collegues, tho* they disapproved of the resolution, 
would then join in it for the sake of unanimity, this was done ^^ the ulti- 
mate question whether the house would agree to the resolution of the 

it was again moved and 12 

committee was accordingly postponed to the next day, when^^S. Carolina 
concurred in voting for it. in the mean time a third member had come July 2. 

post from the Delaware counties and turned the vote of that colony in 
favour of the resolution, members of a 

7- 
different sentiment attending that morning from Pennsylvania also, their 

vote was changed, so that the whole 12. colonies, who were authorized 

^ July 9. to vote at all, gave their voices for it ; and within a ftw days* ^^ 

and thus 

the convention of N. York approved of it by tboir vote to^ supplied ^* 

296 



APPENDIX 

the void occasioned by the withdrawing of their delegates from the 
vote, 
July a. Congress proceeded the same day to ^^ consider the declaration of 

Independance which had been reported & laid on the table the Friday 

and on Monday referred to a comiiiee of the whole. J- 6 

preceding/^. the pusillanimous idea that we had friends in England worth 
keeping terms with, still haunted the minds of many, for this reason those 
passages which conveyed censures on the people of England were struck 
out, lest they should give them offence, the clause too, reprobating the en- 

slaving the inhabitants of Africa, was struck out in complaisance/^^ South 
Carolina & Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importation of 
slaves, and who on the contrary still wished to continue it. our Northern 
brethren also I believe felt a httle tender on th a^ ^^ under those censures ; 
for tho' their people have very few slaves themselves yet they had been 
pretty considerable carriers of them to others, the debates having taken 
July 3. 4, up the greater parts of the 2^ 3? & 4^^ days of July were, in the evening 

of the last, closed ^^ the declaration was reported by the commee, agreed 

As the aentiments of men are known not only by what they receive, but what they reject also, I will state the form of the 21 

present 2 

to by the house and signed by every member^except mr Dickinson. ^dec- 
struck out 
laration ^ as originally reported, is here cubjoinod ; ^^ the parts omitted 

shall be 25 ^ ^ _ A 

are d ^ by Congress -a?©- distinguished by a black line drawn under them ; 

by them shall be 

&those inserted/^*!^ placed in the margin or in a concurrent column*. ^^ 

[Here follows the Declaration, which is given at p. 172. It 
ends on page 1 2 of the notes. 

[Immediately following it, a slip ^^ is pasted onto the page, on 
which slip is the following :] 

the Declaration thus signed on the 4. on paper was engrossed on parchment, & signed again on the 2" of Aug.28 

Some erroneous Statements ^® of the proceedings on the declaration of inde- 
pendance having got before the public in latter times, mr Samuel A. Wells 
asked explanations of me, which are given in my letter to him of May 12. 
19.^*^ before and now again referred to. I took notes in my place while 

[The following is on the reverse side of the slip :] 
these things were going on, and at their close wrote them out in form and 

from I. to 7.31 of 

with correctness and ^tliio and ^^ the two preceding sheets ^^ are the origi- 

297 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

nals then written ; as the two following "* are of the earlier dabates on the 
Confederation, which I took in like manner. 

[The remaining portion of page 12 (beginning as follows: 
a 36 On Friday July 12. the Committee appointed to draw the 
articles of confederation reported them . . .") and the remain- 
ing pages of the notes refer to the subject of confederation,'] 



298 



APPENDIX 



LETTERS OF M:KEAN 

August 4, 1 796, from Philadelphia, to 

ALEXANDER J. DALLAS 

'* . . . The Publication of the Declaration of Independence on the 
4*?* day of July 1776, as printed in the Journals of Congress, Vol. 2, 

most of the 

pa. 241 &c. and also in most of the Acts of^public bodies since, so far 
as respects the names of the Delegates or Deputies who made that 
Declaration on that day in Congress, has [taught me to think less un- 
favorably of scepticism than formerly] ... By the printed publica- 
tions referred to, it would appear as if the fifty five Gentlemen, whose 

there printed as h aving signed it - Signers 

names are oigncd thorcto and none other, were on that day personally 

Whereas 

present in Congress and assenting to the Declaration ; B«t the truth is 

procont nor 

otherwise. The following Gentlemen were not^& Members of Congress 
on that on the 4*!^ of July 1776, to wit, Matthew Thornton, Benjamin 
Rush, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor and George Ross ; 
Esqc the five last named were not chosen Delegates until the 20*.** day of 
that Month, the first not until the i 2*.** day of September following, nor 
did he take his seat in Congress until the 4*^ of November 1776 . , , 

very 

Altho* the six Gentlemen named had been^active in the cause of 

warmly 

America, and some of them to my own knowledge^in favor of its Inde- 
pendence before the day on which it was declared, yet I ®'^ personally 
know, that none of them were in Congress on that day. 

When - \ Modesty should not rob any man of his just honor, when 
by that honor his modesty cannot be offended. My name is not in the 
printed Journals of Congress as a party to the Declaration of Independ- 

vitiated 

ence, and this, like an error in the first concoction, has pervaded most 

the fact is that then A 

of the subsequent publications ; and yet^I was^a Member of Congress 

299 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

for the State of Delaware, was personally present in Congress, voted in 
favor of Indepence on the 4*? of July 1776, and aftefwafds signed the 
declaration, after it was engrossed on parchment ; where my name in my 
own hand-writing still appears , . . [Henry Wisner, of the state of New- 
1 1 York, was also in Congress, and voted for Independence.] On the 5'!* of 
'/July 1776 I was chosen Chairman at a conference . . . And in a few days 

a Associators 

afterwards I marched with the 4^^ Battalion of the Philadelphia Mihtia, 
being the Colonel, to Amboy in New-Jersey, and remained in the Army 
till the flying camp of ten thousand men was formed. — In 1781 I 
published the i Vol. of the State Laws of Pennsylvania, and had my 

placed 

name : to the Declaration of Independence. — 

From these circumstances it must be pretty evident, that I was pres- 
ent in Congress on the 4*? July 1776 and joined in the vote - for 

had been in favor of Independence and did not neglect ■«»«}» an[?l opportunity of declaring it in form. 

i ndependen ce ^ 

I well remember, that on Monday the i^.* July the Congress, in a Com- 
mittee of the whole, voted in favor of Independence, all the States con- 
curring except Pennsylvania, which voted in the negative, and Delaware,- 
which was divided. Those Delegates for Pennsylvania, who voted in the 
negative, were John Dickinson, Robert Morris, Thomas Willing and 

r John Morton, 

Charles Humphries Esquires, those in the affirmative were^^Benjamin 
Franklin and James Wilson Esquires. For Delaware, my vote was for 
Independence, my Colleague George Read Esquire voted against it. On 

were absent 

the 4*^ July (which was a rainy day) Mess? Dickinson & Morris did na t 

A 

attend and in consequence the Vote of Pennsylvania was in favor of the 

Esquire 

measure and Caesar Rodney^the other Delegate for Delaware having 

for the purpose by me by Express, 

been^^^sent for^ by Exprcaa , attended and voted likewise in the affirmative. 

Colonies 

80 that on that day there was an unanimous vote of the thirteen States for 

Independence. — I had not heard that the ■ declarat Instrument had been 
engrossed on parchment and signed, by the mcmbcrSy until some weeks 

after I returned from Camp, and (I believe) until I returned from New- 
been 
castle, where I had^^employed some weeks, as a member of the Conven- 
tion chosen to form -t h e ir a new Government for that State ; but I 
subscribed my name to it in the presence of the Congress sometime in 
the year 1776. 



mistatement 



How the errors in the printed Journal has happened I know not i -the. it 

300 



JPPENDIX 

[The manuscript public Journal has no names annexed to the declaration 
of independence, nor has the secret Journal ; but it appears by the latter, 
that on the 19th day of July, 1776, the Congress directed that it should 
be engrossed on parchment, and signed by every membery and that it was 
so produced on the 2d August, and signed. This is interlined in the 
secret Journal, in the hand-writing of Charles Thompson, Esquire, the 
Secretary. The present Secretary of State of the United States and 
myself have lately inspected the Journals, and seen this. The Journal] 

published 

was printed first in 1778 by M!' John Dunlap.^^ [and probably copies, 
with the names then signed to it, were printed in August, 1776, and that 
Mr. Dunlap printed the names from one of them.] However I have now 
given you a true, tho' brief history of the AiFairy- flot being v/illing to 
enlarge upon i t and flatter myself some steps will be taken to correct the 
error I am S which have been suffered too long to exist.=^ . . . 

* As you are engaged to publish a new edition of the Laws of Penn- 
sylvania I thought this a proper opportunity to convey to you this information. 



August 22, I 81 3, from Philadelphia, to 
C^SAR AUGUSTUS RODNEY 

3^ Your favor of the zz^. last month . . . came safe to hand . . . 

I recollect what passed in Congress in the beginning of July 1776 
respecting Independence ; it was not as you have conceived. On Mon- 
day the if of July the question was taken in the committee of the whole, 
when the State of Pennsylvania (represented by seven Gentlemen then 
present) voted ag, it : Delaware, (having then only two Representatives 
present) was divided ; all the other States voted in favor of it. Where- 
upon, without delay I sent an Express (at my private expence) for 
your honored Uncle C^sar Rodney Esquire, the remaining member for 
Delaware, whom I met at the State-house door in his boots & spurs, as 
the members were assembling ; after a friendly salutation (without a word 
on the business) we went into the Hall of Congress together, and found 
we were among the latest : proceedings immediately commenced, and 

was put 

after a few minutes the great question ; when the vote for Delaware was 
called, your uncle arose and said ; *< As I believe the voice of my con- 
stituents and that of all sensible & honest men is in favor of Independence 
& e 

^my own judgment concurs with them, I vote for Independence, or in 

words to the same effect. The State of Pennsylvania on the 4*^ of July 

301 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

(There being only five members present, Mess""^ Dickinson & Morris, 

voted 

who had in the committee of the whole^against Independence were 
absent) voted for it ; three to two, Mess'^f Willing & Humphries in the 
negative. Unanimity in the thirteen States, an all important point on so 
great an occasion, was thus obtained ; the dissension of a single State 
might have produced very dangerous consequences. 

Now, that I am on this subject, I will tell you some truths, not gener- 
ally known. In the printed public journal of Congress for 1776, vol. 2. 
it would appear that the declaration of Independence was signed on the 
4* July by the members, whose names are there inserted, but the fact is 
not so, for no person signed it on that day nor for many days after and 
among the names subscribed, one was ag* it, M"^ Read, and seven were 
not in Congress on that day, namely, Mess"".^ Morris, Rush, Clymer, 
Smith, Taylor & Ross of Pensylvania, and Mf Thornton of New- 
Hampshire, nor were the six Gentlemen last named at that time mem- 
bers ; the five for P. were appointed Delegates by the Convention of that 
State on the 20^^ July, and Mf Thornton entered Congress for the 
first time on the 4* of Novem! following : when the names of Henry 
Wisner of New- York & Thomas M^Kean of Delaware are not printed as 
subscribers, tho' both were present & voted for Independence. 

Here false colours are certainly hung out ; there is culpability some- 
where. What I can offer as an apology or explanation is ; that on the 4*? 
of July 1776 the declaration of Independence was ordered to be ingrossed 
on parchment & then to be signed, and I have been told, that a resolve 
had passed a few days after and was entered on the secret journal, that no 
person should have a seat in congress, during that year, until he should 
have signed the declaration, in order (as I have been given to understand) 
to prevent traitors or spies from worming themselves amongst us. I was 
not in Congress after the 4*.^ for some months having marched with my 
regiment of associators of this city as Colonel, to support General 
Washington until a flying camp of ten thousand men was completed. 
When the associators were discharged I returned to Philadelphia, took my 
seat in congress & then signed the declaration on parchment. Two days 
after I went to Newcastle, joined the Convention for forming a consti- 
tution for the future government of the State of Delaware (having been 
elected a member for Newcastle county) which I wrote in a tavern, 
without a book or any assistance. 

You may rely on the accuracy of the foregoing relation. 

302 



APPEKIBIX 

June 1 6, 1 817, from Philadelphia, to 
MESSRS. WM. M'CORKLE & SON 

^0 Several applications having been recently made to me, to state the 
errors which I had observed, and often mentioned, in the publications of 
the names of the members of the Continental Congress, who declared in 
favor of the Independence of the United States, on the 4th day of July, 
1776 — I have not, at present, sufficient health and leisure to reply 
severally to each application. There can be but one correct statement 
of facts : one public statement, therefore, through the press, will serve 
the purpose of the gentlemen who have made the request, and may also 
give satisfaction to the minds of others, who have turned their thoughts 
upon the subject. If I am correct in my statement, it may be of use to 
future historians; if not, my errors can be readily corrected. I wish, 
therefore, by means of your paper, to make the following statement of 
the facts within my knowledge, relative to the subject of enquiry. 

On Monday, the 1st day of July, 1776, the arguments in Congress 
for and against the Declaration of Independence, having been exhausted, 
and the measures fully considered, the Congress resolved itself into a 
committee of the whole ; the question was put by the chairman, and 
all the States voted in the affirmative, except Pennsylvania, which was 
in the negative, and Delaware, which was equally divided. Pennsylvania, 
at that time, had seven members, viz, John Morton, Benjamin Franklin, 
James Wilson, John Dickinson, Robert Morris, Thomas Willing, and 
Charles Humphreys. All were present on the first of July, and the 
three first named voted for the Declaration of Independence, the remain- 
ing four against it. The State of Delaware had three members, Caesar 
Rodney, George Read, and myself. George Read and I were present. 
I voted for it, Geo. Read against it. When the president resumed the 
chair, the chairman of the committee of the whole made his report, which 
was not acted upon until Thursday, the 4th of July. In the meantime, 
I had written to press the attendance of Caesar Rodney, the 3d delegate 
from Delaware, who appeared early on that day at the state house, in 
his place. When the Congress assembled, the question was put on the 
report of the committee of the whole, and approved by every State. Of 
the members from Pennsylvania, the three first, as before, voted in the 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

affirmative, and the two last in the negative. John Dickinson and 
Robert Morris were not present, and did not take their seats on that 
day. Caesar Rodney, for the state of Delaware, voted with me in the 
affirmative, and George Read in the negative. 

Some months after this, I saw printed publications of the names of 
those gentlemen, who had, as it was said, voted for the Declaration 
of Independence, and observed, that my own name was omitted. I was 
not a little surprised at, nor could I account for the omission ; because 
I knew that on the 24th of June preceding, the deputies from the 
committees of Pennsylvania, assembled in provincial conference, held 
at the Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, which had met on the i8th, and 
chosen me their president, had unanimously declared their willingness to 
concur in a vote of the Congress, declaring the United Colonics free 
and independent states, and had ordered their declaration to be signed, 
and their President to deliver it to Congress, which accordingly I did 
the day following : I knew also, that a regiment of associators, of v^hich 
I was colonel, had, at the end of May before, unanimously made the 
same declaration. These circumstances were mentioned, at the time, to 
gentlemen of my acquaintance. The error remained uncorrected until 
the year 1781, when I was appointed to publish the laws of Pennsyl- 
vania, to which I prefixed the Declaration of Independence, and inserted 
my own name, with the names of my colleagues. Afterwards, in 1797, 
when the late A. J. Dallas, Esq. then Secretary of the Commonwealth, 
was appointed to publish an edition of the Laws, on comparing the names 
published as subscribed to the Declaration of Independence, he observed 
a variance, and the omission, in some publications, of the name of 
Thomas M'Kean; having procured a certificate from the Secretary 
of State that the name of Thomas M'Kean was affixed in his own 
hand writing to the original Declaration of Independence, tho' omitted 
in the journals of Congress ; Mr Dallas then requested an explanation 
of this circumstance from me, and from my answer to this application, 
the following extracts were taken and published by Mr. Dallas in the 
appendix to the first volume of his edition of the laws. 

"... The publication of the Declaration of Independence on the 
4th day of July, 1776, as printed in the journals of Congress, vol. 2, 
page 242, &c. and also in the acts of most public bodies since, so far 
as respects the names of the delegates or deputies who made that declara- 
tion, has [taught me to think less unfavorably of skepticism than formerly] 

304 



APPENDIX 

... By the printed publications referred to, it would appear as if the 
fifty -five gentlemen, whose names are there printed, and none other, 
were on that day, personally present in Congress, and assenting to the 
declaration ; whereas the truth is otherwise. The following gentlemen 
were not members on the 4th of July 1776, namely, Matthew Thornton, 
Benjamin Rush, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, and 
George Ross, Esquires. The five last named were not chosen delegates 
until the 20th of that month the first, not until the 12th day of Sep- 
tember following, nor did he take his seat in Congress, until the 4th of 
November, which was four months after . . . Although the six gentle- 
men named, had been very active in the American cause, and some of 
them, to my own knowledge, warmly in favour of its independence, 
previous to the day on which it was declared, yet I personally know that 
none of them were in Congress, on that day. 

" Modesty should not rob any man of his just honour, when, by that 
honour, his modesty cannot be offended. My name is not in the printed 
journal of Congress, as- a party to the Declaration of Independence, and 
this, like an error in the first concoction has vitiated most of the sub- 
sequent publications, and yet the fact is, that I was then a member of 
Congress for the state of Delaware, was personally present in Congress, 
and voted in favour of Independence on the 4th day of July, 1776, and 
signed the Declaration, after it had been engrossed on parchment, where 
my name, in my own hand writing, still appears. Henry Wisner, \l 
of the state of New-York, was also in Congress, and voted for il 
Independence. 

" I do not know how the misstatement in the printed journals has 
happened. The manuscript public journal, has no names annexed to the 
Declaration of Independence, nor has the secret journal ; but it appears 
by the latter, that on the 19th day of July, 1776, the Congress directed 
that it should be engrossed on parchment, and signed by every member, 
and that it was so produced on the zd of August, and signed. This is 
interlined in the secret journal, in the hand writing of Charles Thompson, 
Esq. the Secretary. The present Secretary of State of the United States, 
and myself, have lately inspected the journals, and seen this. The journal 
was first printed by Mr. John Dunlap, in 1778, and probably, copies 
with the names then signed to it were printed in August 1776, and that 
Mr. Dunlap printed the names from one oi themj* 



20 



305 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



VARIOUS DRAFTS, ETC., OF THE DECLARATION 

41 

(Of the following, the lines marked a represent the Declaration on parch- 
ment, now in the Department of State 5 the lines marked b the Declaration as 
written out in the corrected Journal ; the lines marked c the Declaration as 
printed by Dunlap under the order of Congress, a copy of which is wafered 
into the rough Journal ; the lines marked d the draft of the Declaration in the 
handwriting of Jefferson now in The American Philosophical Society, in Phil- 
adelphia 5 the lines marked e the draft of the Declaration in the handwriting 
of Jefferson now in the New York Public Library, Lenox ; the lines marked 
f the draft of the Declaration in the handwriting of Jefferson now in the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, in Boston ; and the lines marked g the copy 
in the handwriting of John Adams of the "Rough draught" of the Declara- 
tion, now at the Massachusetts Historical Society.) 



a ^2|-s-|in CONGRESS, 


July, 4, 1 7 76.1 


The unanimous 


b 


^3[S] 


A 


c ^In CONGRESS, 


July, 4, 1 776.1 


A 


d 


-[A] 


A 


e 


«[N] 


A 


f 


*7 [Ms] 


A 


g 


*^[Sy] 


A 


a Declaration 




of the thirteen 


b Declaration by the 


representatives 


of the| 


r DECLARATION! By the 


REPRESENTATIVES 


of the| 


d Declaration by the 


Representatives 


of the 


e Declaration by the 


Representatives 


of the 


f Declaration by the 


Representatives 


of the 


g Declaration by the 


Representatives 


of the 


a united States of America 




b united states of America in 


Congrefs 


r UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,] In GENERAL CONGRESS 


^UNITED STATES OFj AMERICA in General 


Congress 


e UNITED STATES OF| AMERICA in General 


Congress 


/United States of America in | General 


Congress 


g United States of America | in general 


Congrefs 




306 





APPENDIX 

a y 

b afsembled 
c assembled. 
d assembled. 
e assembled, 
/'assembled. 
g afsembled 

a When in the Course of human events, it becomes necefsary for one 

b When in the course of human events, it becomes necefsary for one 

c When in the Courfe of human Events, it becomes necelfary for one 

d When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one 

e When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one 

f When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one 

g When in the Courfe of human Events it becomes necefsary for a 

a people to difsolve the political bands which have connected them v^^ith 

b people to difsolve the political bands, which have connected them with 

c People to diffolve the Political Bands which have connected them with 

d people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with 

e people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with 

f people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with 
g People to advance from that Subordination, in which they have hitherto 

a another, and to afsume among the powers of the earth, the feparate and 

b another, and to afsume, among the powers of the earth, the feparate and 

c another, and to affume among the Powers of the Earth, the feparate and 

d another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and 

e another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and 

f another, & to assume among the powers of the earth the separate & 

g remained and to afsume among the Powers of the Earth, the equal and 

a equal ftation to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God 

b equal station, to which the laws of nature and of nature's God 

c equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God 

(^ equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's god 

^ equal station to which the laws of nature & of nature's god 

/"equal station, to which the laws of nature & of nature's god 

g independent Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Natures God 

307 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



a entitle them, 
b entitle them 
c entitle them, 
^entitle thems 
e entitle them, 
/"entitle them, 
g entitle them. 



a decent respect 
a decent refpect 
a decent Refpect 
a decent respect 
a decent respect 
a decent respect 
a decent Respect 



to the opinions 
to the Opinions 
to the Opinions 
to the opinions 
to the opinions 
to the opinions 
to the Opinions 



of mankind 
of mankind 
of Mankind 
of mankind 
of mankind 
of mankind 
of Mankind 



requires that 

requires that 

requires that 

requires that 

requires that 

requires that 

requires that 



a they Ihould declare the caufes which impel them to the 

b they fhould declare the caufes which impel them to the 

c they fhould declare the caufes which impel them to the 

d they should declare the causes which impel them to the 

e they should declare the causes which impel them to the 

f they should declare the causes which impel them to the 

^ they should declare the Caufes, which impell them to the 



feparation. 
feparation 
Separation, 
separation, 
separation, 
separation. 
Change 



^™ 
■^m 
^m 
/[If] 

a equal 
b equal 
c equal 
d equal 
e equal 
f equal 



We hold these 
We hold thefe 
We hold thefe 
We hold these 
We hold these 
We hold these 
We hold thefe 



truths to be felf-evident 

truths to be felf evident 
Truths to be felf-evident 

truths to be self-evident 

truths to be self=evident 

truths to be self-evident 
Truths to be felf evident ^^; that all Men are 



, that all men are created 
, That all men are created 
, that all Men are created 
; that all men are created 
; that all men are created 
: that all men are created 
created 



, that they are 

, that they are 

, that they are 

; that they are 

; that they are 

: that they are 



endowed by their Creator with 
endowed by their creator with 
endowed by their Creator with 
endowed by their Creator with 
endowed by their Creator with 
endowed by their creator with^*^ 



g equal and independent ; that from that equal Creation they derive 



a certam 
b certain 
c certain 

d inherent and 

e i nherent & 

f inherent & 

g Rights inherent and unalienable ^^ 

308 



unalienable Rights, 
unalienable rights ; 
unalienable Rights, 
inalienable 
inalienable 
inalienable 



that among these are 

that among thefe are 

that among thefe are 

rights ; that among these are 

that among these are 

that a these are 



rights ; 
rights : 



among which are the 



APPENDIX 



c 

d 

e 

f 



Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happinefs. - 

life, liberty & the pursuit of happinefs ; 

Life, Liberty, and the Purfuit of Happinefs _ 

life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; 

life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness ; 

life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness : 



g Preservation of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happinefs ; 



That 
that 

That 
that 
that 
that 
that 



a to fecure 
b to fecure 
c to fecure 
^to secure 
e to secure 
f to secure 
g to Secure 

a their just 
b their just 
c their just 
^ their just 
e their just 
y their just 
g their just 



these rights, 

these rights 

thefe Rights, 

these rights, 

these rights, 

these rights, 

thefe Ends. 



Governments 
governments 

Governments 
governments 
governments 
governments 

Governments 



are instituted 
are inftituted 
are inftituted 
are instituted 
are instituted 
are instituted 
are instituted 



among 
among 
among 
among 
among 
among 
among 



Men, deriving 
men, deriving 
Men, deriving 
men, deriving 
men, deriving 
men, deriving 
Men, deriving 



powers 
powers 
Powers 
powers 
powers 
powers 
Powers 



from the 
from the 
from the 
from the 
from the 
from the 
from the 



consent 
consent 
Confent 
consent 
consent 
consent 
Consent 



of the 
of the 
of the 
of the 
of the 
of the 
of the 



governed, - 
governed ; 
Governed, 
governed ; 
governed ; 
governed : 
governed ; 



-That 
that 
that 
that 
that 
that 
that 



whenever 
whenever 
whenever- 
whenever 
whenever 
whenever 
whenever. 



a any 
b any 
r any 
^'any 
e any 
/any 



Form of Government 
form of government 
Form of Government 
form of government 
form of government 
form of government 



becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
becomes deftructive of these ends, it is 
becomes deftructive of thefe Ends, it is 
becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
becomes destructive of these ends, it is 



g any form of Government, Shall become destructive of thefe Ends, it is 



to alter or to abolish it, and 

to alter or to abolifti it, and 

to alter or to abolifti it, and 

to alter or to abolish it, and 

to alter or to abolish it, and 

to alter or to abolish it, & 

g the Right of the People to alter, or to abolish it, and 

309 



a the Right of the People 

b the right of the people 

c the Right of the People 

^the right of the people 

^the right of the people 

/the right of the people 



to 


mstitute 


new 


to 


inftitute 


new 


to 


inftitute 


new 


to 


institute 


new 


to 


institute 


new 


to 


institute 


new 


to 


institute 


new 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



a Government, laying 
b government, laying 
c Government, laying 
d government, laying 
e government, laying 
f government, laying 
g Government laying 



its foundation on 

its foundation on 

its Foundation on 

it's foundation on 

it's foundation on 

it's foundation on 

its Foundation on 



such principles and organizing 

fuch principles and organizing 

fuch Principles, and organizing 

such principles, and organising 

such principles & organising 

such principles, & organising 

Such Principles, and organising 

a its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
b its powers in fuch form, as to them Ihall feem most hkely to effect their 
c its Powers in fuch Form, as to them fhall feem moll likely to effect their 
^/it's powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
e it's powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
/'it's powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to efi^ect their 
g its Powers in Such Form, as to them Shall Seem moll likely to effect their 



a Safety 
b fafety 
c Safety 
d safety 
e safety 
f safety 
g Safety 



and Happinefs. 
and happinefs. 
and Happinefs. 
and happiness. 
& happiness, 
and happiness, 
and Happinefs. 



Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments 
Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments 
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments 
prudence indeed will dictate that governments 
prudence indeed will dictate that governments 
prudence indeed will dictate that governments 
Prudence indeed will dictate that Governments 



a long established 
b long eftablifhed 
c long eftablifhed 
/^long established 
e long established 
/'long established 
g long established 

a and accordingly 
b and accordingly 
c and accordingly 
//and accordingly 
e and accordingly 
/*and accordingly 
g and accordingly 



fhould 
fhould 
fhould 
should 
should 
should 
Should 



not be changed 
not be changed 
not be changed 
not be changed 
not be changed 
not be changed 
not be changed 



for light and 
for light and 
for light and 
for light & 
for 'light & 
for Hght and 
for light or^^ 



transient caufes ; 
tranfient caufes ; 
tranfient Caufes ; 
transient causes . 
transient causes . 
transient causes : 
transient Caufes : 



all experience 
all experience 
all Experience 
all experience 
all experience 
all experience 
all Experience 



hath fhewn, that 
hath fhewn, that 
hath fhewn, that 
hath shewn that 
hath shewn that 
hath shewn that 
hath Shewn, that 
310 



mankind are 
mankind are 
Mankind are 
mankind are 
mankind are 
mankind are 
Mankind are 



more dis- 
more dif- 
more dif- 
more dis- 
more dis- 
more dis- 
more dis- 



APPENDIX 



a posed tc fufFer, 

b pofed to fufFer, 

{ pofed . to fufFer, 

d posec' to suffer, 

i?pos.d to sufFer 

ypr.sed to sufFer 

/^pofed to SufFer, 



while evils are fufferable, than to right themselves by 
w^hile evils are fufferable than to right themselves by- 
while Evils are fufferable, than to right themfelves by 
while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by 
while evils are sufferable, ' - themselves by 
while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by 
while Evils are Sufferable, than to right themselves, by 



0, abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long 
b abolifhing the forms, to which they are accustomed. But when a long 

c abolifhing the Forms to which they are accuftomed. But when a long 

</ abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. but when a long 

€ abolishing the forms ' ' ■ - they are accustomed, but when a long 

y abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed, but when a long 

g at olishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long 

a train of abuses and ufurpations, 

b train of abufes & ufurpations 

c Train of Abufes and Ufurpations, 

d train of abuses and usurpations, begun at a distinguished period & 

e train of abuses & usurpations, begun at a distinguished period, & 

/ train of abuses & usurpations, begun at a distinguished period, & 

g Train of Abufes and Ufurpations, begun at a distinguished Period, and 



a pursumg 
b purfuing 
<r purfuing 
^pursuing 
e pursuing 
y pursuing 
g purfuing 



the 
the 



invariably 
invariably 
invariably 
invariably 
invariably 
invariably 
invariably, the Same 



same 
fame 
the fame 
the same 
the same 
the same 



Object evinces 
object evinces 

Object, evinces 
object, evinces 
object, evinces 
object, evinces 

Object, evinces 



a design 
a defign 
a Defign 
a design 
a design 
a design 
a Defign 



to reduce 
to reduce 
to reduce 
to reduce 
to reduce 
to reduce 
to reduce 



them 
them 
them 
them 
them 
them 
them 



a under 
b under 
r under 
d under 
e under 
/'under 
g under 



absolute 
absolute 
abfolute 
absolute 
absolute 
absolute 
absolute ' 



Despotism 
defpotifm 

Defpotifm 
despotism 
despotism 
despotism ' 
Power 



their right, it is their duty, to throw 

s their right, it is their duty to throw 

s their Right, it is their Duty, to throw 

s their right, it is their duty, to throw 

s their right, it is their duty, to throw 

s their right, it is their duty, to throw 

s their Right, it is their Duty, to throw 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



a off such Government, 


and 


to provide new 


Guards for their future 


fecur- 


b ofF fuch government 


and 


to provide new 


guards for their future 


fecur- 


f ofFfuch Government, 


and 


to provide new 


Guards for their future 


Secur- 


d off such government. 


& 


to provide new 


guards for their futurC; 


secur- 


e off such government^ 


& 


to provide new 


guards for their future' 


^ secur- 


y off such govern m ent. 


& 


to provide new 


guards for their future 


.^cur- 


g off Such Government, 


and 


to provide new 


Guards for their future 


Si'fr. 



a ity, — Such has been the patient fufferance of these Colonies ; and fuch 

^ity. — Such has been the patient fufferance of thefe colonies, and fuch 

f ity. — Such has been the patient Sufferance of thefe Colonies ; and fuch 

d'lty. such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; & such 

e ity. such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies ; & "such 

fity. such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such 

g ity. Such has been the patient Sufferance of thefe Colonies ; and Such 



a is now the necefsity which constrains them 

b is now the necefsity, which constrains them 

c is now the Neceffity which conftrains them 

</is now the necessity which constrains them 

^is now the necessity which constrains them 

yis now the necessity which constrains them 

g is now the Necefsity which constrains them 



to alter their former 
to alter their former 
to alter their former 
to expunge their former 
to expunge their former 
to expunge their former 
to expunge their former 



a Systems 
l> fystems 
c Syftems 
d systems 
e systems 
y systems 
g Systems 



of Government, 
of government, 
of Government, 
of government, 
of government, 
of government, 
of Government. 



The history of the 

The history of the 

The Hiilory of the 

the history of the 

the history of the 

the history of the* 

The History of his 



present King 

present king 

prefent King 

present king 

present king 

present king 

present Majesty 



of 
of 
of 
of 
of 
of 



a Great Britain 

6 great Britain 
c Great— Britain is 

</ Great Britain, is 

e Great Britain, is 

/Great Britain ^^ is 

g 



IS a 



IS a 



history of repeated 
history of repeated 

Hiflory of repeated 
history of unremitting 
history of unremitting 
history of unremitting 

History, of unremitting 
312 



injuries and 
injuries and 
Injuries and 
injuries and 
injuries & 
injuries & 
Injuries and 



ufurpations, 
ufurpations, 

Ufurpations, 
usurpations, 
usurpations, 
usurpations, 

Ufurpations, 



APPENDIX 



b 

c 

^ among which appears no solitary fact to contra- 

e among which appears no solitary fact to contra- 

y among which appears no soHtary fact to contra- 

g among which no one Fact Stands Single or Solitary to contra- 

. a all having in direct object 

h all having in direct object 

c all having in direct Object 

</ diet the uniform tenor of the rest; but all have in direct object 

^ diet the uniform tenor of the rest; but all have in direct object 

/"diet the uniform tenor of the rest, but all have in direct object 

^ diet the Uniform Tenor of the rest, all of which have in direct object, 

a the eftablishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove 

b the eftablishment of an absolute tyranny over thefe ftates. To prove 

c the Ellabliihment of an abfolute Tyranny over thefe States. To prove 

^the estabhshment of an absolute tyranny over these states. to prove 

e the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. to prove 

ythe establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. to prove 

g the Establishment of an abfolute Tyranny over thefe States, To prove 

a this, let Facts be fubmitted to a candid world 

b this let facts be fubmitted to a candid world 

c this, let Facts be fubmitted to a candid World 

<:/this let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of which 

e this, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of which 

ythis, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of which 

^this, ht Facts be Submitted to a candid World, for the Truth of which 

a .— He 

b . [^] He 

. [*iy] He 

d we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood. [^] He 

e we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood. [•[j] He 

/ we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood. [^] He 

g We pledge a Faith, as^« yet unsullied by a Falsehood. [P. 2 j ^] He 

313 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

a has refused his Afsent to Laws, the most wholesome and necefsary for 

b has refused his afsent to laws the most wholesome and necefsary for 

c has refufed his AfTent to Laws, the moft wholefome and necefTary for 

t/has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for 

e has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome & necessary for 

y^has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for 

g has refused his Afsent to Laws, the most wholesome and necefsary for 

a the public good. — He has forbidden his Governors to pafs Laws 

b the public good. [^] He has forbidden his governors to pafs laws 

€ the public Good. [^] He has forbidden his Governors to pafs Laws 

«/the public good. [^] he has forbidden his governors to pass laws 

e the public good : [^] he has forbidden his governors to pass laws 

f the public good : [*||] he has forbidden his governors to pass laws 

^the public Good. [^] He has forbidden his Governors to pafs Laws 

a of immediate and prefsing importance, unlefs fuspended in their opera- 

b of immediate and prefsing importance, unlefs fuspended in their opera- 

c of immediate and prefTmg importance, unlefs fufpended in their Opera- 

^of immediate & pressing importance, unless suspended in their opera- 

e of immediate & pressing importance, unless suspended in their opera- 

f of immediate & pressing importance, unless suspended in their opera- 
g of an^'^ immediate and prefsing Importance, unlefs fuspended in their Opera- 

a tion till his Afsent should be obtained ; and when so fuspended, he has 

b tion till his afsent fhould be obtained, and when fo fuspended, he has 

f tion till his AfTent fhould be obtained ; and when fo fufpended, he has 

d tion till his assent should be obtained ; and when so suspended, he has 

€ tion till his assent should be obtained ; & when so suspended, he has 

/"tion till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has 

g tion, till his Afsent Should be obtained ; and when So fuspended he has 

a utterly neglected to attend to them. — He has refused 

b utterly neglected to attend to them. [^] He has refused 

€ utterly neglected to attend to them. [^] He has refufed 

d neglected utterly to attend to them. [^f] he has refused 

e neglected utterly to attend to them : [^] he has refused 

f neglected utterly to attend to them. [P- ^ ; ^] he has refused 

to 

g neglected utterly to attend ^ them. [^ He has refufed 

314 



APPENDIX 



a to pafs other 
// to pafs other 
c to pafs other 
d to pass other 
e to pass other 
f\.o pass other 
g to pafs other 



Laws for the accommodation 
laws for the accommodation 

Laws for the Accommodation 
laws for the accomodation 
laws for the accomodation 
laws for the accomodation 

Laws for the Accommodation 



of large districts 
of large diftricts 
of large Diftricts 
of large districts 
of large districts 
of large districts 
of large Districts 



of people, 

of people, 

of People, 

of people, 

of people, 

of people, 

of People, 



a unlefs those people would relinquish the right of 

b unlefs thofe people would relinquifh the right of 

c unlefs thofe People would relinquifh the Right of 

<:/ unless those people would relinquish the right of 

e unless those people would relinquish the right of 

/"unless those people would relinquish the right of 

g unlefs thofe People would relinquish the Right of 



Representation in the 
reprefentation in the 

Reprefentation in the 
representation in the 
representation in the 
representation in the 

Representation in the 



a Legislature 
b legislature 
c Legiflature 
d legislature 
e legislature 
f legislature 
g Legislature ' 



, a right inellimable 

, a right inellimable 

, a Right inellimable 

; a right inestimable 

, a right inestimable 

, a right inestimable 

^, a Right inellimable 



to them and formidable to tyrants 

to them and formidable to tyrants 

to them, and formidable to Tyrants 

to them, & formidable to tyrants 

to them & formidable to tyrants 

to them, & formidable to tyrants 
to them, and formidable to Tyrants 



a only , 
b only , 
c only , 
d only 
e only 

f oi^ly 

g only^^ , 



He has called together legislative bodies at places 

[^] He has called together legislative bodies at places 

[•[]"] He has called together Legiflative Bodies at Places 

[P. 2 ; ^] he has called together legislative bodies at places 

[P. 2 ; ^] he has called together legislative bodies at places 

[^] he has called together legislative bodies at places 



a unusual, uncomfortable, and 
b unufual, uncomfortable and 
c unufual, uncomfortable, and 
//unusual, uncomfortable, & 
e unusual, uncomfortable, & 
/ unusual, uncomfortable, & 
g 



distant from the depository 
distant from the depolitory 
diflant from the Depolitory 
distant from the depository 
distant from the depository 
distant from the depository 

315 



of their public 
of their public 
of their public 
of their public 
of their public 
of their public 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



a Records, for 
b records, for 
c Records, for 
d records, for 
e records, for 
y records, for 
g 

a meafures. — 
b meafures. 
c Meafures. 
^measures. 
e measures: 
f measures. ^^ 



the sole purpose of fatiguing 
the sole purpose of fatiguing 
the fole Purpofe of fatiguing 
the sole purpose of fatiguing 
the sole purpose of fatiguing 
the sole purpose of fatiguing 



them into compliance with his 
them into compliance with his 
them into Compliance with his 
them into compliance with his 
them into compliance with his 
them into compliance with his 



[If] 
[H] 

[U] 

m 

[IT] 

m 



He has difsolved 
He has difsolved 
He has dilTolved 
he has dissolved 
he has dissolved 
he has dissolved 
He has difsolved 



en 61 

Represtative 

A 

reprefentative 
Reprefentative 
Representative 
Representative 
Representative 
Representative 



Houses repeated!/, 
houses repeatedly 

Houfes repeatedly, 
houses repeatedly 
houses repeatedly 
houses repeatedly 

Houfes, repeatedly. 



a for opposing with manly firmnefs his invalions 

b for opposing with manly firmnefs his invalions 

c for oppoling with manly Firmnefs his Invaiions 

d Sc continually, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions 

e & continually, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions 

f Sc continually, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions 

g and continually, for opposing with manly Firmnefs his Invafions, 



on the 
on the 
on the 
on the 
on the 
on the 
on the 



a rights of the people 

b rights of the people. 

c Rights of the People. 

d rights of the people. 

e rights of the people : 

f rights of the people. 

^ Right of the People.* 



He has refused for a long 

[^] He has refused for a long 

[^ He has refufed for a long 

[^ he has refused for e long 

[•[[] he has refused for a long 

[^ he has refused for a long 

[^] ®^He has refused, for a long Space of 



a time, after such difsolutions , to cause others to be elected ; whereby 

to caufe others to be elected ; whereby 

to caufe others to be elected ; whereby 

to cause others to be elected whereby 

to cause others to be elected, whereby 

to cause others to be elected, whereby 

g Time after Such Difsolutions ®*, to caufe others to be elected, whereby 

316 



b time, after such difsolutions 
c Time, after fuch Diffolutions 
d time after such dissolutions 
e time after such dissolutions 
f time after such dissolutions 



APPENDIX 



a the Legislative 

b the legislative 

c the Legiflative 

d the legislative 

e the legislative 

ythe legislative 

g the legislative 



pov^rers, 

powers 

Powers, 

powers, 

powers, 

powers. 

Powers, 



incapable 
incapable 
incapable 
incapable 
incapable 
incapable 
incapable 



of Annihilation, 
of annihilation 
of Annihilation, 
of annihilation, 
of annihilation, 
of annihilation, 
of Annihilation, 



have 
have 
have 
have 
have 
have 
have 



returned to the 

returned to the 

returned to the 

returned to the 

returned to the 

returned to the 

returned to the 



a People at large for their exercise ; 
h people at large for their exercise ; 
c People at large for their exercife ; 
d people at large for their exercise, 
e people at large for their exercise, 
f people at large for their exercise, 
g People at large for their Exercife, 



the State remaining in the mean time 
the Hate remaining in the mean time 
the State remaining in the mean time 
the state remaining in the meantime 
the state remaining in the meantime 
the state remaining in the meantime , 
the State remaining in the mean Time, 



to all the dangers of invasion 

to all the dangers of invalion 

to all the Dangers of Invafion 

to all the dangers of invasion 

to all the dangers of invasion 

to all the dangers of invasion 



a exposed 
b exposed 
c expofed 
^exposed 
e exposed 

/'exposed __ , ^ _ ,_ , ._ 

g expofed to all the Dangers of Invafion, from without, and Convulsions 



from without, and convulsions 
from without and convulfions 
from without, and Convulfions 
from without, & convulsions 
from without, & convulsions 
from widiout, & convulsions 



a within. — 
b within. 
c within. 
d within. 
e within : 
y within. 
g within 

a these States 
b these flates 
c thefe States 
</ these states 
e these states 
y these states 
g thefe States 



He 

[IT] He 
m He 
m he 
he 
he 



[IT] 

[IT] He 



has endeavoured 
has endeavoured 
has endeavoured 
has endeavored 
has endeavored 
has endeavored 
has endeavoured 



to prevent 
to prevent 
to prevent 
to prevent 
to prevent 
to prevent 
to prevent 



the population of 

the population of 

the population of 

the populanon of 

the population of 

the population of 

the Population of 



for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of 

for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of 

for that Purpofe obllructing the Laws for Naturalization of 

for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of 

for ihat purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of 

for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of 

for that purpofe obstructing the Laws for naturalization of 
317 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



a Foreigners ; 
b foreigners ; 
c Foreigners ; 
d foreigners ; 
e foreigners e 
f foreigners ; 
g foreigners ; 



refusing to 
refusing to 
refuiing to 
refusing to 
refusing to 
refusing to 
refusing to 



pafs others 
pafs others 
pafs others 
pass others 
pass others 
pass others 
pafs others 



to encourage 
to encourage 
to encourage 
to encourage 
to encourage 
to encourage 
to encourage 



their 
their 
their 
their 
their 
their 
their 



migrations 
migrations 
Migrations 
migrations 
migrations 
migrations 
Migrations 



hither, 
hither 
hither, 
hither j 
hither ; 
hither ; 
hither ; 



a and 
bk 
c and 
^& 

/& 
g and 



raismg 
raifing 
raifing 
raising 
raising 
raising 
raising 



the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. — He 

the conditions of new appropriations of lands. [^] He 

the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. [^] He 

the conditions of new appropriations of lands. [^] he 

the conditions of new appropriations of lands : [^] he 

the conditions of new appropriations of lands. [^1 he 

the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. 



m 

m 

m He 



a has obstructed 

b has obllructed 

c has obftructed 

^has suffered 

e has suffered 

yhas suffered 

g has Suffered 



^ these states 
e these states 



the Administration of 
the administration of 
the Adminiftration of 
the administration of 
the administration of 
the administration of 



Justice 

Justice 

Juftice 

justice totally to cease in some of 

justice totally to cease in some of 



justice totally to cease in some of 
the Administration of Justice totally to ceafe in Some of 



/"these states ; 
g thefe Colonies, 



by refusing his Afsent 

by refufing his afsent 

by refufing his affent 

refusing his assent 

refusing his assent 

refusing his assent 

refufing his Afsent 



to Laws for establishing Judiciary 

i 

to laws for eflablifhing judciary 
to Laws for eflabhfhing Judiciary 
to laws for establishing judiciary 
to laws for establishing judiciary 
to laws for establishing judiciary 
to Laws for establishing judiciary 



a powers. — He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, 

b powers. [^] He has made judges dependant on his will alone 

c Powers. [^] He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, 

d powers. [^] he has made our judges dependant on his will alone, 

e powers : \%\ he has made our judges dependant on his will alone, 

f powers. \^\\\ he has made our judges dependant on his will alone, 

g Powers. \%'\ He has made our Judges dependent on his Will alone, 

318 



APPENDIX 



a for the 

b for the 

c for the 

^for the 

e for the 

/for the 

g for the 



tenure of their 
tenure of their 

Tenure of their 
tenure of their 
tenure of their 
tenure of their 

Tenure of their 



offices, and the 

offices and the 

Offices, and the 

offices, and the 

offices & the 

offices, & the 

Offices, and the 



amount and payment 

amount and payment 

Amount and Payment 

amount & paiment 

amount & paiment 

amount & paiment ^ of 

amount and payment of 



of 
of 
of 
of 
of 



a their salaries. 

b their falaries 

c their Salaries. 

^ their salaries. 

e their salaries : 

ytheir salaries. 

g their Salaries : 



— He has erected a multitude of New Offices 



[^] He has erected a multitude of 

[^] He has erected a Multitude of 

[^] he has erected a multitude of 

[^] he has erected a multitude of 

[^] he has erected a multitude of 

[^] He has erected a Multitude of 



new offices 
New Offices 

new offices by a 

new offices by a 

new offices by a 

new Offices by a 



a 3 and sent hither fwarms of Officers to harafs our 

b y and fent hither fwarms of officers to harafs our 

c , and fent hither Swarms of Officers to harafs our 

^self-assumed power, & sent hither swarms of officers to harass our 

e self assumed power, & sent hither swarms of officers to harass our 

/self-assumed power, & sent hither swarms of officers to harrass our 

g Self=afsumed Power, and Sent hither Swarms of Officers to harafs our 



a people, and eat out their fubstance. — 

b people and eat out their fubftance. 

c People, and eat out their Subflance. 

^ people, and eat out their substance. 

e people, 8c eat out their substance : 

f people, & eat out their substance. 

g People, and eat out their Subllance. 

a times of peace. Standing Armies 

b times of peace standing armies 

c Times of Peace, Standing Armies 

^ times of peace, standing armies and 
e times of peace standing armies & 

y nmes of peace, standing armies & 

g Times of Peace, Standing Armies and 



He has kept among us, in 
[^] He has kept among us in 
[^] He has kept among us, in 
P^] he has kept among us, in 
he has kept among us, in 
he has kept among us, in 
has kept among us, in 






without the Con- 
, without the con- 
, without the con- 
ships of war, without the con- 
ships of war without the con- 



ships of war without the con- 
Ships of War 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



a sent of our legislatures. — 
b fent of our legislatures 
c fent of our Legiflatures. 
^ sent of our legislatures. 
e sent of our legislatures: 
f sent of our legislatures. ®^ 



He has affected to render the Military 

[^] He has affected to render the military 

[•[[] He has affected to render the Military 

[^] he has affected to render the military 

[^] he has affected to render the military 

[^] he has affected to render the mihtary 

[^] He has affected to render the military. 



a independent of and 
b independant of & 
c independent of and 
tf' independant of, & 
e independant of, and 
y independant of, & 
g independent of, and 



superior to 

fuperior to 

fuperior to 

superior to, 

superior to, 

superior to, 
Superiour to. 



the Civil 
the civil 
the Civil 
the civil 
the civil 
the civil 
the civil 



power, 
powder 
Power, 
power, 
power 
power. 
Power 



He has com- 
[^] He has com- 



TO 

[II] 

[HJ 



He has com- 
he has corn- 
he has com- 
he has corn- 
He has com- 



a bined with others to fubject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitu- 

b bined with others to fubject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our conllitu- 

c bined with others to fubject us to a Jurifdiction foreign to our Conflitu- 

</ bined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitu- 

e bined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitu- 

j^ bined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitu- 

g bined with others to fubject Us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitu- 



a tion , and unacknowledged by our laws ; 
b tion and unacknowledged by our laws, 
c tion , and unacknowledged by our Laws ; 
^/tions, and unacknoleged by our laws; 
e tions, and unacknoleged by our laws ; 
/*tions, and unacknoleged by our laws; 
g tion and unacknowledged by our Laws ; 



giving his Afsent to their 

giving his afsent to their 

giving his Affent to their 

giving his assent to their 

giving his assent to their 

giving his assent to their 

giving his Afsent to their pre- 



a 


Acts of pretended Legislation : — 




b 


acts of pretended legislation 


m 


c 


Acts of pretended Legiflation : 


m 


d 


acts of pretended legislation 


m 


e 


acts of pretended legislation 


m 


f 


acts of pretended legislation 


m 


^ tended 


Acts of Legislation; 
320 





For quartering large 

for quartering large 

For quartering large 

for quartering large 

for quartering large 

for quartering large 

for quartering large 



APPENDIX 



a bodies of 

b bodies of 

c Bodies of 

d bodies oi 

€ bodies of 

_/ bodies ol 

g Bodies of 



For protecting them, 

for protecting them 

For protecting them, 

for protecting them 

for protecting them 

aiiiKwu. Liwvj^o aiiiwiig uo , I IIJ '^^^ protccting them 

armed Troops among Us ; for protecting them 



armed troops among 
troops among 
Armed Troops among 
armed troops among 
armed troops among 
armed troops among 



us 
us 



[H] 
[IT] 
[IT] 
[IT] 
[t] 



^ by a 
bhy 2i 
rby a 
^/by a 
^by a 
/by a 



mock Trial, 
mock trial 
mock Trial, 
mock-trial 
mock-trial 
mock trial 



^ by a Mock Tryal 



from punishment 
from punifhment 
from Punifhment 
from punishment 
from punishment 
from punishment 
from Punishment 



for any 
for any 
for any 
for any 
for any 
for any 
for any 



Murders 
murders. 

Murders 
murders 
murders 
murders 
Murders 



which 
which 
which 
which 
which 
which 
which 



they should 
they fhould 
they fhould 
they should 
they should 
they should 
they Should 



a commit on the Inhabitants of these States : 
b commit on the inhabitants of thefe states. 
c commit on the Inhabitants of thefe States : 
d commit on the inhabitants of these states ; 
e commit on the inhabitants of these states ; 
/commit on the inhabitants of these states; 
g commit on the Inhabitants of thefe States ; 



For cutting off our 
[^] for cutting off our 
[H] ^^^ cutting off our 
[^[] for cutting off our 
[^] for cutting off our 
[^] '^^^ cutting off our 
for cutting off our 



a Trade with all 
b trade with all 
€ Trade with all 
d trade with all 
e trade with all 
/ trade with all 
F Trade with all 



parts of the world : 
parts of the world ; 
Parts of the World ; 
parts of the world ; 
parts of the world ; 
parts of the world ; 
Parts of the World ; 



For imposing Taxes on us 
^] for imposing taxes on us 
^] For impofing Taxes on us 
^] for imposing taxes on us 
^] for imposing taxes on us 
^] for imposing taxes on us 

for impofing Taxes on us 



a without our Consent : — 

b without our consents- [^] 

c without our Confent ; [^] 

(S' without our consent; [•[]"] 

e without our consent ; [^] 

/ without our consent ; [^] 

g without our Consent ; 



For depriving us in many cases, of 

for depriving us in many cases of 

For depriving us, in many Cafes, of 

for depriving us of 

for depriving us of 

for depriving us of 

for depriving Us of 

321 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



a the benefits of Trial by Jury : — 

b the benefits of trial by jury [^] 

c the Benefits of Trial by Jury : [^] 

d the benefits of trial by jury : [^] 

e the benefits of trial by jury ; [^] 

f the benefits of trial by jury ; [^] 

g the Benefits of Trial by jury ; 

a Seas to be tried for pretended offences : 

b seas to be tried for pretended offences 

c Seas to be tried for pretended Offences : 

d seas to be tried for pretended offences ; 

e seas to be tried for pretended offences ; 

f seas to be tried for pretended offences ; 

g Seas to be tried for pretended Offences : 



For transporting us beyond 

for transporting us beyond 

For tranfporting us beyond 

for transporting us beyond 

for transporting us beyond 

for transporting us beyond 

for transporting us beyond 



m 

[H] 

[II] 

[P-3; 



t] 



For abolish- 

for abolifh- 

For abolifh- 

for abohsh- 

for abolish- 

for abolish- 



a ing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, 

b ing the free fystem of english laws in a neighbouring province, 

ring the free Syftem of Englifh Laws in a neighbouring Province, 

^ing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, 

^ing the free system of Enghsh laws in a neighboring province, 

ying the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, 

S 



a establishing 
b eftablifhing 
c eftablifhing 
d establishing 
e establishing 
f establishing 



therein an Arbitrary 
therein an arbitrary 
therein an arbitrary 
therein an arbitrary 
therein an arbitrary 
therein an arbitrary 



government, 
government 
Government, 
government, 
government, 
government. 



and enlarging its Boun- 
and enlarging its boun- 
and enlarging it's Boun- 
and enlarging it's boun- 
and enlarging it's boun- 
& enlarging it's Boun- 



a daries so as to render it at once an example and fit inftrument for 

^daries, so as to render it at once an example & fit inftrument for 

r daries, fo as to render it at once an Example and fit Inftrument for 

</ daries so as to render it at once an example & fit instrument for 

e daries, so as to render it at once an exam.ple & fit instrument for 

ydaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for 

g 

322 



APPENDIX 



a rntroducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies : — 

b introducing the same absolute rule into thefe colonies. [^] 

c introducing the fame abfolute Rule into thefe Colonies : [^J 

y introducing the same abfolute rule into these states ; [^] 

e introducing the same absolute rule into these states ; [^] 

y introducing the same absolute rule into these states ; ®^ [^j] 



For 

for 
For 

for 
for 
for 
for 



a taking away 

b taking away 

c taking away 

d taking away 

e taking away 

f taking away 

g taking away 



our Charters, abolishing our 

our charters, abolilhing our 

our Charters, abolifhing our 

our charters, abolishing our 

our charters, abolishing our 

our charters, abolishing our 

our Charters, 



most valuable 
most valuable 
moft valuable 
most valuable 
most valuable 
most valuable 



Laws 

laws 
Laws 
Laws 
laws 
laws ^^ 



and 

and 

and 

and 

and 

& 

and 



a altering fundamentally the Forms of 

b altering fundamentally the forms of 

c altering fundamentally the Forms of 

faltering fundamentally the forms of 

e altering [P. 3] fundamentally the forms of 

y' altering fundamentally the forms of 

paltering fundamentally the Forms of 



our 
our 
our 
our 
our 
our 
our 



Governments : — 

governments. 
Governments : 

governments ; 

governments ; 

governments j 
Governments ; 






For suspending our 

for fuspending our 

For fufpending our 

for suspending our 

for suspending our 

for suspending our 

for Suspending our 



own Legislatures, and declaring 

own legislatures and declaring 

own Legiflatures, and declaring 

own legislatures, & declaring 

own legislatures & declaring 

own legislatures & declaring 

[P. 3] own Legislatures and declaring 



a themselves invested with power to legislate for us 

b themselves invested with power to legislate for us 

c themfelves invefted with Power to legillate for us 

^themselves invested with power to legislate for us 

e themselves invested with power to legislate for us 

/"themselves invested with power to legislate for us 

g themselves invested with Power to legislate for us 

323 



in all cases what- 

in all cases what- 

in all Cafes what- 

in all cases what- 

in all cases what- 

in all cases what- 

in all Cafes What- 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Government here, 
government here 

Government here, 
government here, vnthdrawing his 
government here, withdrawing his 
government here, withdrawing his 

Government here, withdrawing his 



a soever. — 


- 


He has 


abdicated 


b soever. 


m 


He has 


abdicated 


c foever. 


™ 


he has 


abdicated 


d soever. 


[IT] 


he has 


abdicated 


e soever : 


[11] 


he has 


abdicated 


f soever. 


[^] 


he has 


abdicated 


g soever. 


{%-] 


He has 


abdicated 



^governors, & 

e governors, & 

f governors, & 



by declaring us out of his 

by declaring us out of his 

by declaring us out of his 

declaring us out of his 

declaring us out of his 

declaring us out of his 



allegiance and 
allegiance and 



Protection 
protection 
Protection 
protection 
protection 



g Governors, and declaring us, out of his Allegiance and Protecrion 



a and waging 
b and waging 
c and waging 
d 
e 

f 

g 

a ravaged our 

b ravaged our 

c ravaged our 

d ravaged our 

e ravaged oar 

/ 

g ravaged our 

a our People. - 
b our people. 
c our People. 
d our people : 
e our people : 

/ 

g our People. 



War against us. — He has plundered our seas, 

war against us. [^] He has plundered our seas. 

War againll us. [•^j He has plundered our Seas, 

[H] ^^ ^^^ plundered our seas, 

: [^] he has plundered our seas, 

[H] -^^ ^^^ plundered our Seas, 



Coasts, burnt our towns, and 

coasts burnt our towns & 

Coafts, burnt our Towns, and 

coasts, burnt our towns, & 

coasts, burnt our towns, & 



destroyed the Lives of 

deftroyed the lives -of 

deftroyed the Lives of 

destroyed the lives of 

destroyed the lives of 



Coafls, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of 

— He is at this time transporting large Armies of 

[*|y] He is at this time transporting large armies of 

[^] He is, at this Time, tranfporting large Armies of 

[^] he is at this time transporting large armi =^ 

[^] he is at this time transporting large armies of 

[^] He is at this Time transporting large Armies of ^° 
324 



APPENDIX 



a foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and 

b foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and 

c foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Defolation, and 

^foreign mercenaries, to compleat the works of dea^ desolation & 

e foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation & 

/ 

g foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of death. Desolation, and 



a tyranny, 
b tyranny, 
c Tyranny, 
d tyranny, 
e tyranny, 

/ 

g Tyranny, 



already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy 

already begun with circumftances of cruelty and perfidy 

already begun with circumftances of Cruelty and Perfidy, 

already begun with circumstances of cruelty & perfidy 

already begun with circumstances of cruelty & perfidy 

already begun with Circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy 



a fcarcely paralleled in the most barberous ages, and totally unworthy the 

b fcarcely paralleled in the most barberous ages and totally unworthy the 

c fcarcely paralleled in the moll barberous Ages, and totally unworthy the 

d unworthy the 

e unworthy the 

/ 

g unworthy the 



a Head of a civilized nation. - 
b head of a civilized nation 
c Head of a civilized Nation. 
d head of a civilised nation. 
e head of a civilized nation: 

/ 

g Head of a civilized Nation. 



He has constrained our fellow 
[•[y] He has conilrained our fellow 
[^] He has conilrained our fellow 

* [^] ^^ ^^^ constrained others, 

* [^] ^^ ^^^ constrained others. 



a Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas 

b citizens taken captive on the high feas 

c Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas 

a taken captive on the high seas, 

e taken captive on the high 
/ 
g 

325 



to bear Arms against their 

to bear arms against their 

to bear Arms againll their 

to bear arms against their 

seas, to bear arms against their 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



a Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or 

b country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren or 

c Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or 

d country, to become the executioners of their friends, & brethren, or 

e country^ to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or 

/ 

g 

a to fall themselves by their Hands. — 

b to fall themselves by their hands 

cX.0 fall themfelves by their Hands. 

d to fall themselves by their handsE 

e to fall themselves by their hands : "^^ 

/ 

s 



He has 


excited 


[^] He has 


excited 


[H] He has 


excited 


"lim he 




"li™ h« 





m He 



a domestic infurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the 

b domestic infurrections amongst us and has endeavoured to bring on the 

c domeilic Infurrections amongll us, and has endeavoured to bring on the 

d has endeavored to bring on the 

e has endeavored to bring on the 

/ 

g has endeavoured to bring on the 

a inhabitants of our frontiers, the mercilefs Indian Savages, whose known 

b inhabitants of our frontiers the mercilefs Indian favages, whofe known 

c Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the mercilefs Indian Savages, whofe known 

d inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known 

e inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known 

g Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the mercilefs Indian Savages, whofe knewn 

a rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, fexes and 
b rule of warfare is an undlllinguilhed dellruction of all ages, sexes and 
rRule of Warfare is an undillinguiflied Dellruction, of all Ages, Sexes and 
d rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, & 
e rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, & 

/ 

g Rule of Warfare is an undistinguished Deflruction of all Ages, Sexes, and 

326 



APPENDIX 

a conditions • 

b conditions 

c Conditions , 

d conditions of existence . [^] he has incited treasonable insurrections of 

e conditions of existence : [^] he has incited treasonable insurrections of 

g Conditions of Existence. [^ He has incited treasonable Insurrections of 



dowT fellow citizens , with the allurements of forfeiture & confisca- 
e our fellow-citizens , with the allurements of forfeiture & coniisca- 

/ 

g our Fellow Citizens '^, with the Allurement '* of Forfeiture & Confisca- 

a 

b 

c 

</tion of our property. || [^] he has waged cruel war against human 

e tion of our property : || [^] he has waged cruel war against . 

/ 

g tion of our Property. [^] He has waged cruel War against human 

a 
b 

c 

d nature itself, violating it*s most sacred rights of life & liberty in the 

£ itself, violating it's most sacr = of life & liberty in the 

/ ■ ' 

g Nature itself, violating its most Sacred Right '^ of Life and Liberty in the 



b 

c 

d persons of a distant people, who never offended him, captivating and 

e persons of a distant people, who never offended him, captivating & 

g Persons of a distant People who never offended him, captivating and 

327 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

a 

b 

c 

d carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable 

e carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable 

f . . . ^ ' 

g carrying them into Slavery in another Hemisphere, or to incur miserable 

a 

b 

c 

d death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the 

e death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the 

g Death, in their Transportation thither. This piratical Warfare, the 

a 

b 

c 

d opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of 

e opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of 

g opprobrium of infidel Powers, is the Warfare of the Christian King of 

a 
b 
c 

d Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN 

e Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN 

g Great Britain. [^] dotormined to 

a 
b 

c 

d should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for 

c should be bought & sold,'® he has prostituted his negative for 

/ 

& '' [U] ^® ^^s prostituted his Negative foi: 

328 



APPENDIX 



b 
c 

^suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this ex- 
e suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this ex- 

/ 

g Supprefsing every legislative Attempt to prohibit or to restrain an ''^ ex- 



c 

i/ecrable commerceE 
e ecrable commerce : 



/ 

g ecrable Commerce, determined to keep open a Market where Men Should 

a 
b 
c 

d and that this assemblage of horrors might want no 

e and that this assemblage of horrors might want no 

/ 

g be bought and Sold,'^ and that this Afsemblage of Horrors might want no 



b 

c 

d fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people 

e fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting those very people 

g Fact of distinguished Die [^] He is now exciting thofe very People 

a 

b 

c 

d to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has 

^ to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has 

g to rife in Arms among Us, and to purchafe that Liberty of which he has 

329 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



c 

//deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded 
e deprived themE by murdering the people upon v^^hom he also obtruded 

/ 

g deprived them, by murdering the Peoole upon whom he also obtruded 

a 
b 
c 

d them : thus paying oiF former crimes committed against the liberties of 
e them= thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of 

g them : thus paying off, former Crimes committed against the Liberties of 



c 

^one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the 
e one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the 

/ 

g one People, with Crimes which he urges them to commit against the 

a In every flage of these Opprefsions We have 

b [^] In every stage of thefe opprefsions we have 

c [^] In every flage of thefe Oppreffions we have 

d lives of another. [^] In every stage of these oppressions, we have 

e lives of another. [^J in every stage of these oppressions, we have 

g Lives of another. [^] In every Stage of thefe Opprefsions we have 

a Petitioned for Redrefs in the most humble terms : Our repeated Petitions 

b petitioned for redrefs in the most humble terms : Our repeated pedtions 

c Petitioned for Redrefs in the moll humble Terms : Our repeated Petitions 

d petitioned for redress in the most humble terms ; our repeated petitions 

e petitioned for redress in the most humble terms ; our repeated petitions 

g petitioned for redrefs, in the most humble Terms j our repeated Petitions 

330 



APPENDIX 



only 80 

a have been answered ^ by repeated injury . 

b have been anfwered only by repeated injury . 

c have been anfwered only by repeated Injury . 

d have been answered only by repeated injury . 

e have been answered only ^^ by repeated injury . 

/ 

g have been answered by repeated Injury ^'^. 



A Prince, whose 

A prince whofe 

A Prince, whofe 

a prince whose 

a prince whose 

A Prince, whofe 



[P-4] 



a character 
b character 
c Character 
d character 
e character 
y character 
g Character 



thus marked 
thus marked 
thus marked 
thus marked 
thus marked 
thus marked 
thus marked 



by every 
by every 
by every 
by every 
by every 
by every 
by every Act 



act 
act, 
act 
act 
act 
act 



which 
which 
which 
which 
which 
which 
which 



may define a Tyrant, is 
may define a tyrant, is 
may define a Tyrant, is 
may define a tyrant, is 
may define a tyrant, is 
may define a tyrant, is 
may define a Tyrant, is 



a unfit to be the ruler of a free people 

i> unfit to be the ruler of a free people 

c unfit to be the Ruler of a free People 

^ unfit to be the ruler of a people who mean to be free^ future 

e unfit to be the ruler of a people who mean to be free. future 

y unfit to be the ruler of a people who mean to be free. future 

g unfit to be the Ruler of a People who mean to be free, — future 



d ages will scarce believe that the hardiness of one man adventured 

e ages will scarce believe that the hardiness of one man adventured 

f ages will scarce believe that the hardiness of one man adventured 

g Ages will Scarce believe, that the Hardinefs of one Man, adventured. 



c 

</ within the short compass of twelve years only to build a foundation, 
e within the short compass of twelve years only, to build a foundation, 
y within the short compass of twelve years only, to build ^^ a foundation, 
g within the Short Compafs of twelve years only, on So many Acts of Tyr- 

331 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



b 



d so broad and undisguised, for tyranny over a people fostered and fixed 
e so broad & undisguised for tyranny over a people fostered & fixed 
f^o broad & undisguised, for tyranny over a people fostered & fixed 
g anny, v\^ithout a Maik, over a People, fostered and fixed 



e 

dm 
e in 

/in 



m 

m 

principles of freedom. [P. 4 ; ^] 
principles of freedom. [P. 4 ; ^] 
principles of freedom. [^] 



Nor have We been ^vanting 
Nor have we been wanting 
Nor have we been wanting 
Nor have we been wanting 
Nor have we been wanting 
Nor have we been wanting 



g in the ^* Principles of Liberty. [P. 4, ^ Nor have we been wanting 



a in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned 

b in attendons to our britifh brethren. We have warned 

c in Attentions to our Britifh brethren. We have warned 

d\n attentions to our British brethren. we have warned 

e in attentions to our British brethren. we have warned 

fm attentions to our British brethren. we have warned 

g in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned 



them from 
them from 
them from 
them from 
them from 
them from 
them from 



a time to time of attempts by their legislature 

b time to time of attempts by their legislature 

c Time to Time of Attempts by their Legiflature 

d time to time of attempts by their legislature 

e time to time of attempts by their legislature 

f time to time of attempts by their legislature 

g Time to Time of attempts of their Legislature, 



to extend 
to extend 
to extend 
to extend 
to extend 
to extend 
to extend 



an 

an 

an 

a 

a 

a 

a 



unwar- 
unwar- 
unwar- 



a rantable jurisdiction over us 
h rantable jurisdiction over us 
c rantable Jurifdiction over us 
d jurisdiction over 

e jurisdiction over 

f jurisdiction over 

g Jurisdiction over 



these our states, 
these our states, 
these our states. 
thefe our States. 



We have reminded them 

We have reminded them 

We have reminded them 

we have reminded them 

we have reminded them 

we have reminded them 

We have reminded them 



APPENDIX 

a of the circumstances of our emigration and fettlement here. 

b of the circumstances of our emigration and fettlement here. 

c of the Circumflances of our Emigration and Settlement here, 

^of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here, no one of 

e of the circumstances of our emigration & settlement here, no one of 

f ol the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here, no one of 

g of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here, no one of 

a 
b 
c 

i/ which could warrant so strange a pretention: that these were eiFected at 

e which could warrant so strange a pretension : that these were effected at 

f which could warrant so strange a pretension : that these were effected at 

g which could warrant So Strange a Pretenfion : that thefe were effected at 

a 

b 
c 

d the expence of our own blood and treasure, unassisted by the wealth or 
e the expence of our own blood & treasure, unassisted by the wealth or 
ythe expence of our own blood & treasure, unassisted by the wealth or 
g the expence of our own Blood & Treafure, unafsisted by the Wealth or 

a 
b 
c 

^the strength of Great Britain: that in constituting indeed our s=eral 

e the strength of Great Britain : that in constituting indeed our several 

f the strength of Great Britain : that in constituting indeed our several 

g the Strength of Great Britain : that in conllituting indeed, our Several 



d forms of governments we had adopted one common king, thereby laying 
e forms of government, we had adopted one common king, thereby laying 
f forms of government, we had adopted one common king, thereby laying 
g Forms of Government, We had adopted one common King, thereby laying 

333 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



c 

ddi foundation for perpetual league and amity with them : but that submis- 
e a foundation for perpetual league & amity with them : but that submis- 
/~a founda-^^ 
g a Foundation for perpetual League and Amity with them : but that Submif- 

a 

b 

c 

d sion to their parliament was no part of our constitution, nor ever in idea, 

e sion to their parhament was no part of our constitution, nor ever in idea, 

/_ _ . 

g sion to their Parliament, was no Part of our Constitution, nor ever in Idea, 

a We have appealed to their native jus- 

b We have appealed to their native jus- 

c We have appealed to their native Juf- 

d if history may be credited : and we appealed to their native jus- 

e if history may be credited : and we appealed to their native jus- 

g if History may be credited : and We appealed to their Native Jus- 

a tice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our 

b tice and magnanimity and we have conjured them by the ties of our 

c tice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our 

</tice & magnanimity, as well as to the tyes of our 

e tice & magnanimity, as well as to the ties of our 

g tice and Magnanimity, as well as to the Ties of our 

a common kindred to disavow these ufurpations, which, would inevitably 
b common kindred to disavow these ufurpations, which would inevitably 
c common Kindred to difavow thefe Ufurpations, which, would inevitably 
^common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which were likely to 
e common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which were likely to 

g common Kindred to difavow thefe Ufurpations, which were likely to 

33+ 



APPENDIX 

a interrupt our connections and correspondence • They 

b interrupt our connections & correfpondence • They 

c interrupt our Connections and Correfpondence . They 

^interrupt our connection & correspondence . they 

e interrupt our connection & correspondence . they 

f ^ 

g interrupt our Correspondence and Connection. They 

a too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity 

b too have been deaf to the voice of justice & consanguinity 

c too have been deaf to the Voice of Juftice and of Confanguinity 

dx.00 have been deaf to the voice of justice, and of consanguinity j and 

e too have been deaf to the voice of justice & of consanguinity, and 

/ . . .. ~ 

g too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity and 

a 
b 
c 

d when occasions have been given them, by the regular course of their 
e when occasions have been given them, by the regular course of their 

^ ■ ^ ■ 

g when Occalions have been given them, by the regular Courfe of their 

a 

b 

c 

d laws, of removing from their Councils the disturbers of our Harmony, 

e laws, of removing from their councils the disturbers of our harmony, 

g Laws of removing from their Councils, the Disturbers of our Harmony, 

a 

b 

c 

d they have by their free election re-established them in power= at 

e they have by their free election re-established them in power. at 

/ 

g they have by their free Election, reeftablished them in Power. A[t] ^^ 

335 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



f/this very time too, they are permitting their chief magistrate to send 
€ this very time too, they are permitting their chief magistrate to send 

g this very Time too, they are permitting their Chief Magistrate to fend 

a 
b 
c 

d oytr not only soldiers of our common blood, but [Scotch and] ^' foreign 

e over not only soldiers of our common blood, but [Scotch and] ^'' foreign 
^ — - 

g over not only Soldiers of our common Blood, but Scotch and foreign 

a 

b 

c 

d mercenaries to invade and destroy us , these facts have 

€ mercenaries to invade & destroy us ^^ . these facts have 

/ 

g Mercenaries, to invade and deluge Us in Blood. Thefe Facts have 

a 
b 
c 

</ given the last stab to agonizing affection; and manly spirit bids us 

e given the last stab to agonizing aifection^ and manly spirit bids us 

J, ^ 

^ given the lall Stab to agonizing Affection, and manly Spirit bids us 



b 
c 

dto renounce forever these unfeeling brethren 
^to renounce =■= these unfeeling brethren 
/ - 

^to renounce forever thefe unfeeling Brethren. We must 

33^ 



We must, therefore. 

We must therefore 

We mull, therefore, 

we must 

we mu= 



APPENDIX 

a 

h 

^endeavor to forget our former love for them, and to hold them as we 
e == forget our former love for them, and to hold them, as we 

g endeavour to forget our former Love for them, and to hold them, as we 



b 
c 

</hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. we 
^hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. we 

/ 

g hold the reft of Mankind, enemies in War, in Peace Friends. We 



c 

d might have been a free & a great people together ; but a communication 
e might have been a free & a great people together ; but a communication 

/ ^ 

g might have been a free and a great People together but a Communication 

a 
b 
c 

d of grandeur and of freedom, it seems, is below their dignity^ be 

e of grandeur and of freedom, it seems, is below their dignity. be 

/ ~ 

g of Grandeur and of Freedom it feems, is below their Dignity. [^ Be 

a 
b 

£ 

d'lX. so, since they will have it. the road to happiness and to glory 
e it so, since they will have it : the road to happiness and to glory 

/ 

g it So, Since they will have it : The Road to Happinefs and to Glory *■ 
22 337 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

a acquiesce 

b acquiefce 

c acquiefce 

d is open to us too ; we will climb it apart from them = and acquiesce 

e is open to us too ; we will climb it apart from them , and acquiesce 

/ ; ' ■ 

g is open to Us too ; We will climb ^^ it, apart from them ^^, and acquiefce 



denounces our Separation, 

denounces our feparation, 

denounces our Separation, 

denounces our eternal separation 

denounces our eternal separation 



and hold 
and hold 
and hold 



a in the necefsity, which 
b in the necefsity, which 
c in the Neceffity, which 
^in the necessity which 
e in the necessity which 

^— - 

g in the Necefsity, which ^^ denounces our eternal Separation ®^ 

a them, as we hold the rest of mankind. Enemies in War, in Peace 
b them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace 
c them, as we hold the reft of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, 
d 
e 

f 
g 

a Friends. — [^] We, therefore, the Representatives of the united 

We therefore the representatives of the united 

We, therefore the reprefentatives of the UNITED 

We therefore the Representatives of the United 

We therefore the Representatives of the United 

We therefore the Representatives of the united 

a States of America, in General Congrefs, Afsembled, appealing 

b States of America in general Congrefs afsembled appealing 

c STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Affembled, appealing 
^States of America, in General Congress assembled, 

in General Congress assembled, 

in General Congrefs afsembled, 

338 



b friends 


m 


c Friends. 


ra 


d ! 


ra 


e ! 


™ 


/ 




S ! 


™ 



e States 


of America, 


/ 

g States 


of America 



APPENDIX 

a to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions 
b to the fupreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions 
c to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, 
d 
e 

f 
g 

a do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these 

b do in the name and by authority of the good people of thefe 

c do, in the Name and by Authority of the good People of thefe 

^do, in the name & by authority of the good people of these 

e do, in the name & by authority of the good people of these 

/ ' ' ■ 

g do, in the Name, and by the ®* Authority of the good People of thefe 

a Colonies, 

b colonies 

c Colonies, 

d states , reject and renounce all allegiance and subjection to the kings 

e states , reject and renounce all allegiance & subjection to the kings 

g States , reject and renounce all Allegiance and Subjection to the Kings 



b 
c 

d of Great Britain, & all others who may hereafter claim by, through, or 
e of Great Britain, and all others who may hereafter claim by, through, or 

/ 

g of Great Britain, and all others who may hereafter claim by, through, or 



h 

c 

Sunder them ; we utterly dissolve all political connection 

e under them ; we utterly dissolve all political connection 

J. - 

g under them ; We utterly disfolve and break oiF, all political Connections 

339 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



d which may heretofore have 
€ which may heretofore have 

/ 



subsisted between us and the parlia- 
subsisted between us and the parlia- 



have heretofore Sublisted between Us and the 

folemnly pubHsh and 
folemnly publiih and 
folemnly Publifh and 
of Great BritainE and finally we do assert 
of Great Britain ; and finally we do assert 

Parliament of Great Britain, and finally we do afsert and 

That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought 
That thefe united colonies are and of right ought 
That thefe United Colonies are, and of Right ought 

the^ colonies 

these colonies 



g which may 

a 
b 
c 

d ment or people 
e ment or people 

/ 

g People or 

a declare, 

b declare — [^] 

c Declare, 

d 

e 

f 

g declare, 

a to be Free and 

b to be free and 

c to be. Free and 

dx.Q be free and 

^ to be free and 

/ . 

^to be free and independent states. 



thefe 



Colonies 



Independent States ; that they are Absolved from 

independant States ; that they are absolved from 

Independent States ; that they are abfolved from 

independant states , 

independent states , 



a all Allegiance to 

b all allegiance to 

c all Allegiance to 
d 

f 
g 



the British Crown, and that all political connection 
the bridlh Crown, and that all political connection 
the Britilh Crown, and that all political Connection 



340 



APPENDIX 

a between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally 
b between them and the state of great Britain is & ought to be totally 
c between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally 
d 
e 

f 



a difsolved 
b difsolved 
c diffolved 
d 
e 

f 
g 



and that as Free and Independent States, they 

and that as free & independant ftates they 

and that as Free and Independent States, they 

& that as free & independant states, they 

and that as free & independant states, they 

and that as free and independant States they Shall hereafter 



a have 
b have 
,r have 
^have 
e have 

/ 

g have 



full 
full 

full 
full 
full 



Power to levy War, conclude 

to levy war, conclude 

to levy War, conclude 

power to levy war, conclude 

power to levy war, conclude 



power 
Power 



Peace, contract 

peace, contract 

Peace, contract 

peace, contract 

peace, contract 



Alhances, 
alliances. 

Alliances, 
alliances, 
alliances. 



full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, 



a establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which 

b eftablish commerce, and to do all other acts & things, which 

c eftabhfh Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which 

^establish commerce, & to do all other acts and things which 

^establish commerce, & to do all other acts^° and things which 

/ 

g establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which 



a Independent States may of right do. 

b independant ftates may of right do. 

c Independent States may of right do. 

d independant states may of right do. 

e independant states may of right do. 

/ 

g Independent States may of Right do. 



■ And for the fupport of this 

And for the fupport of this 

And for the fupport of this 

And for the support of this 

And for the support of this 

And for the Support of this 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



reliance on the protection of divine Provi- 
reliance on the protection of divine provi- 
Reliance on the Protection of divine Provi- 



a Declaration, with a firm 
b declaration, with a firm 
r Declaration, with a firm 
d declaration 
e declaration, 

/ 

g Declaration, 

a dence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes 

i> dence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes 

c dence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, 

d we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, 

e we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes^' 
/ 



S 



We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, 



a and our facred Honor , 

h & our facred honor . 

c and our facred Honor , 

</and our sacred honor . 

e Sc our sacred honor • 

/ 

g and our Sacred Honour. 



342 



APPENDIX 



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343 



\l <tt ^ bo 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

The Declaration on parchment, the copy in the corrected Journal and 
the broadside printed by Dunlap under the order of Congress, we have 
considered elsewhere. We will, therefore, consider (first) only the 
other drafts. 

In The American As we have seen, JeiFerson, on July 8, 1776, sent to R. H. Lee 
Philosophical «, ^ ^^^^ ^f ^^ Declaration of Independance as agreed to by the house ®% 
& also as originally framed.*' 

Lee answered, from Chantilly, July 21st: ** [S] I thank you much for 
your favor and its enclosures by this post, and I wish sincerely, as well 
for the honor of Congress, as for that of the States, that the Manuscript 
had not been mangled as it is. It is wonderful, and passing pitiful, that 
the rage of change should be so unhappily applied — However the Thing 
is in its nature so good, that no Cookery can spoil the Dish for the 
palates of Freemen." ®^ 

Of this copy "as originally framed ^® ", R. H. Lee, the grandson, in 
Memoir of the Life of Richard Henry Lee (1825), writes: "The 
original was carefully preserved by Mr. Lee ^^'^ . . . It has been as 
carefully preserved by his family ^°^, and finally [i82i(?)] committed to 
the author. '* 

The "author" sent it, it appears, during the same year, by George 
W. Smith, to The American Philosophical Society, in Philadelphia — 
where it was received, August 9th, and where it now is. 

It is in the handwriting of Jefferson and fills the front and reverse sides 
of two sheets of foolscap now much worn and faded. These have been 
folded at some time once lengthwise and five times crosswise. (It is 
framed between glass.) 

On the right side of the last page — lengthwise — appears: "[A] 
Declaration of | Independence as re=|rported to Congrefs | July 1777 
[1776]". On the edges (in the main) — but also by lines under cer- 
tain words, and occasionally by one side of a bracket or a vertical line, 
and the word "out" — are indicated the amendments ■'^'^^ made by 
Congress. At the bottom of the last page — across, and stated to be 
in the handwriting of R. H. Lee, the grandson — is the following: 
" [A] The endorsement \_supra\ is in the hand-writing of R. H. Lee, 
the altera- 1 tions ^°3 in that of Arthur Lee." 

In response to an inquiry, made, as we shall see, just after it was re- 
ceived by the Society, Jefferson writes (from Monticello, September 16, 

344 



APPENDIX 

1825, to Vaughan): '*[P] I am not able to give you any particular ac- 
count of the paper handed you by mr Lee, as being either the original, or 
a copy of the declaration of Independanee, sent by myself to his grand- 
father, the draught when completed by myself, with a few verbal amend- 
ments, by Df Franklin and mr Adams, two members of the Committee, 
in their own hand-writing, is now in my own possession, and a fair copy 
of this was reported to the Committee, passed by them without amend- 
ment, and then reported to Congress ; this paper should be among the 
records of the old Congress ; and whether this, or the one from which it 
was copied, and now in my hands, is to be called the Original is a ques- 
tion of definition, to that in my hands, if worth preserving, my rela- 
tions with our University gives irrisistible claims, whenever, in the course 
of the composition, a copy became overcharged, and difficult to be read with 
amendments, I copied it fair, and when that also was crowded with other 
amendments, another fair copy was made Ec.^°* these rough drafts ^^^ 
I sent to distant friends who were anxious to know what was passing — 
but how many, and to whom, I do not recollect, one sent to Mazzei 
was given by him to the countess de Tesse (aunt of M'? de la Fayette) 
as the original, & is probably now in the hands of her family, whether 
the paper sent to R. H. Lee was one of these, or whether, after the passage 
of the instrument, I made a copy for him, with the amendments of Con- 
gress, may, I think be known from the face of the paper ... I am still 
confined by indisposition, and not likely soon to be relieved from it." 

On October 26th of the same year, he pens to Dr. James W. Wallace 
the following ^°^ : ** [P ; — ] I rec"! a Ire of Sep. 9. from John Vaughan, 
of the A. P. S. informing me that R. FL Lee, gr. son, of the revolu- 
tionary of that name had deposited with that society the original Ifes of 
the correspdts of his gr. father of which he has availed himself in the 
Memoirs of his life ** among which is the original or copy in my hand- 
writing of the draught of the Declu of Indepdce. with the alteriis, in the 
margin, or on the document, which had been enclosed by me to R. H. 
Lee on the 8^^ of July 1776.'' the work is out and the documts occupy I 
am told it's 2^. vol.^°'^ when I see it I shall be able to say what it is. but 
I believe all pretensions to his participn in 4*^& the ^°^ authorship of the 
Declh ^°^ are retired from. I await however to see that paper." 

In view of these letters, it seems very strange that we have no expression 
on the subject from Jefferson following the receipt of Memoir y etc. ; 

345 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

but such, so far as we know, is the fact. In his letter to Lee, the grandson, 
dated Monticello, November 29, 1825, he says simply : "[P] I thank 
you. Sir, for the copy you have been so kind as to send me of the life 
of R. H. Lee. I shall read it with great pleasure . . . your grandfather 
was a great man and acted a great part '^^^ in those awful scenes, and he 
is fortunate in having a descendant capable of making known his merits 
to the generns which will feel their benefits." 

Lee, the grandson, however, writing from Washington to Vaughan, 
February 25, 1840, says: *' [A] The paper . . . may be called with 
strict truth an Original Draught. It is more so, than that [the Declara- 
tion on parchment, evidently] at Washington — It was written verbatim 
after the first rough draught of the Author, by the Author himself. It is 
as much, therefore, an original Draught as it well can be, in asmuch as 
the priority in time as to the first composed paper, is a matter of no account, 
where the same Author writes, at the same time and occasion, the two 
draughts. Neither are copies — " "^^^ 

Indeed, he writes again, from the same city to the same gentleman, 
April 24, 1 840, saying : '< [A] As you think my account of the 
Draught of the Declaration of Independence, in the Athenaeum [Society], 
would be desirable, I enclose one." The '* account" reads: ''[A] The 
Draught of the Declaration of Independence in the xA.thenaeum in Phila- 
delphia, in the handwriting of M^ Jefferson, came into my possession, 
together with the Mss of Richard Henry Lee from [my uncle] Francis 
L. Lee, one of the Sons of R. H. Lee ; and was presented by me to the 
Athenaeum in Ph^ The history of this document given to me by my father 
[Ludwell Lee] and his brother [said Francis L. Lee], as given them by 
their Father R. H. Lee derived from Mf Jefferson, is this, that after 
alterations had been made in Committee of the first draught drawn by Mf 
Jefferson ^^^, he drew two Draughts, one to be reported to Congress ; and 
the other ^^^ for Richard H. Lee, which he sent to him enclosed in a letter 
dated (I think) on the 8th July 1774 [1776]. This letter and the 
Draught were carefully preserved by R. H. Lee and after his death were 
as carefully preserved by his Sons. Copies of the letter were taken; but 
the original had been lost, before the original of the Mss of R. H. Lee 
came into my hands — The copy which I presented to the Athenaeum 
with the Draught, was declared to me by the sons of R. H. Lee, to be 
an exact copy. The Draught being drawn by M! Jefferson himself, 

346 



APPENDIX 

before the report had been made to Congress, is as much an Original^ as 
any other in existence. The interlineations on the Draught were written 
by Arthur Lee." 

The copy in the New York Public Library (Lenox) was purchased in the New ' 
from Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet of New York City. He secured it ^frk PubUc 

Library 
from Elliot Danforth of the same place, who purchased it from Cassius (Lenox) 

F. Lee of Alexandria, Va. Lee had written to both Emmet and Dan- 
forth, but Emmet's letter accepting the Declaration upon the terms pro- 
posed was not received until after Danforth had purchased it. 

How it came into the hands of Lee is not known. 

Danforth writes us that he cannot find the letters which he received 
from Lee, even if they are still in existence. Emmet writes us : ** I did 
not preserve Mr. Lee's letters — " Lee died in 1 892, and, so far as we 
can learn by corresponding with his daughter, Mrs. W. J. (Lucy Lee) 
Boothe, Jr., of Alexandria, left no record of the history of the manuscript 
(if he knew anything of it) among his papers. 

Emmet writes, however, to Hays (Hays says) : '* Mr. Lee stated to 
me that it was one of the copies Jefferson sent his grandfather, and that it 
had been sent to someone in lower Virginia by Richard Henry Lee 
shortly after, and that it was not recovered for many years after ' ' ; but 
this, we think, cannot be true, unless Jefferson sent it with some other letter 
than that (See p. 344) of July 8, 1776, which seems scarcely possible. 

It may very well be the copy ^^^ which Jefferson mailed to Pendleton 
or the one ^^* found among the papers of Wythe or, if there ever was 
such a copy, the copy^^^ mailed to Page. 

It also is in the handwriting of Jefferson and fills the front and reverse 
sides of two sheets of foolscap ; and the paper itself is of the same charac- 
ter and size as that used for the draft which he sent to R. H. Lee. 
Indeed, pages i , 2 and 4 respectively of these two drafts end upon the same 
word ; while page 3 of this copy ends with the word *< altering " and of 
the copy sent to Lee with "altering fundamentally the forms of our govern- 
ments; ": from which it might appear that one was copied from the other. 
The individual lines, however, as well as the underscored words, as we 
have seen, do not always correspond ; and there is sometimes an " and" in 
one where there is an *'& " in the other and an occasional slight differ- 
ence in punctuation. There is no indorsement — or, indeed, any extra- 

347 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



In the Massa- 
chusetts His- 
torical So- 
ciety 



neous writing — upon it as there is upon the copy which was sent to Lee. 
It has at some time been folded once each way. 

The copy in the Massachusetts Historical Society was presented to that 
Society by Alexander C. Washburn and Ellen M. (Bailey) Washburn, 
his wife, of Boston, April 13, 1893. Mrs. Washburn is dead; and 
the former, whom we saw personally, could give nothing of its history. 

It likewise is in Jefferson's handwriting and is written upon both the 
front and reverse sides of two sheets of foolscap of the same character and 
size as that used for the draft now in The American Philosophical Society 
(and for the draft now in the New York Public Library, Lenox). 
These sheets have been folded four times crosswise ; and, as we have 
seen, three-fourths of the second are missing. It has no endorsement or 
other extraneous writing upon it. 

It may very well be the copy ^^® which Jefferson mailed to Pendleton 
or the one ^i" found among the papers of Wythe or, if there ever was 
such a copy, the copy ^^^ mailed to Page. 



In the handwrit- The copy in the handwriting of John Adams (now at the Massachu- 

Adam " ^^^^^ Historical Society) fills both the front and reverse sides of two sheets 

of foolscap of the same character and size as that used for the three drafts 

just referred to in the handwriting of Jefferson. // has no endorsement 

or other extraneous writing upon it. 

Charles Francis Adams, in speaking of it, says : ** [J] Among the 
papers left by Mr. Adams, is a transcript, by his own hand, of the 
Declaration of Independence, very nearly as it appears in Mr. Jefferson's 
rough draught. This must have been made by him before the paper had 
been subjected to any change in committee, as none of the alterations 
which appear on the original, as made at the instance of Dr. Franklin, 
and but one of the two suggested by himself, are found there. Several 
variations occur, however, in the phraseology, and one or two passages are 
wholly omitted. The most natural inference is, that he had modified it to 
suit his own notions of excellence, without deeming the alterations worth 
pressing in committee. As Mr. Jefferson says that this draught was sub- 
mitted separately, first to Mr. Adams, and afterwards to Dr. Franklin, the 
presence of this copy does not affect the question of the correctness of 
either version of the proceedings." 

It seems certain, however, that Charles Francis Adams is mistaken in 

348 



APPENBIX 

thinking that John Adams ** modified it to suit his own notions of excel- 
lence, without deeming the alterations worth pressing in committee.*' 
It is, without doubt, merely a copy, made by John Adams, of the 
** Rough draught ' ' of Jefferson — that is, a copy of that '* Rough draught ** 
as it read when Adams copied it. That this is so will readily be seen by 
comparing it with that ** Rough draught*' (See between pp. 144 and 
145). It will be found that it conforms very closely to that ** Rough 
draught" as originally drawn (or, if another or other drafts preceded 
that so-called *' Rough draught" — See note 104, supra — y as first writ- 
ten). Where it does not conform (except as to punctuation, etc.), we 
have indicated by notes, appended to the Adams copy (draft g). 

Adams — during or immediately after the final debates — evidently sent 
this copy to Massachusetts to Mrs. Adams ; for she writes to him under 
date of July 14, 1776: "[Ad] By yesterday's post I received two 
letters dated 3d and 4th of July [See note 32, chapter VII] ... I 
cannot but be sorry that some of the most manly sentiments [She very 
likely thought the draft Adams' composition] in the Declaration are ex- 
punged from the printed copy. [It is not clear from this whether Adams 
enclosed a printed copy, though this is probable, or whether she learned 
the contents of the printed copy from the copy or copies mentioned by 
Price and Cooper (See note 81, chapter XI). Certainly, she cannot 
yet have received the copy of The Pennsylvania Evening Post sent on 
the 7th (See note 6, chapter XI).] Perhaps wise reasons indorsed it." 

Nor do we know just when (the date) it was made ; though it was 
made evidently (See note 6, chapter VI) before the amendments by Franklin 
and, therefore, before Jefferson's "Rough draught" was submitted to 
Franklin, and probably at the time when that "Rough draught" was 
submitted (first, if submitted more than once — see note 55, supra') to 
Adams. See p. 144. 

# 

Charles Francis Adams says : " [J] It is said that a similar copy, in 
the handwriting of Dr. Franklin, has been discovered in England, and is 
in the hands of an American gentleman in London." 

A draft in the handwriting of Jefferson which has not been located — Sent to 
unless it be the one now in the New York Public Library (Lenox) or 
the one now in the Massachusetts Historical Society — was sent to 



Pendleton 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Pendleton; for he writes to JefFerson, from *' Caroline ", August lo, 1776 : 
*« [S] Yf Esteemed Favf of July 29*? I reced, w*^ Dr Price's Judicious 
Pamphlet . . . I am also obliged ^^^ by yf Original Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, which I find your brethren have treated as they did ye mani- 
festo last summer — altered it much for the worse; their hope of a 
Reconciliation might restrain them from plain truths then, but what could 
cramp them now ? '* 

Sent to Wythe Another draft in the handwriting of JefFerson which has not been 
located — unless // is the one in the New York Public Library (Lenox) 
or the one in the Massachusetts Historical Society — would seem ^^® 
to have been sent to Wythe ; for the Richmond Enquirer ^^^ (C) of 
August 6, 1822, says : 

MALIGNITY EXPOSED. 

The subjoined article from the Charleston Patriot exposes another of the 
vile attempts, which have been recently made by a sleepless spirit of resent- 
ment, to strip the laurel from the brow of JefFerson . . . At least thirteen 
years ago 122 y^Q published in this paper a copy of the original draft ^^a ^5 it 
came from his own hands: This copy was in his handwriting, and was found 
among the papers of the late Mr. Wythe, the friend and instructor of his 
early years. This copy was published in Niles's W. Register, & in various 
other newspapers of this continent. And now forsooth, we are to be amused 
■with a new discovery of the original draft being " scored and scratched like a 
school-boy's exercise." This is a most miserable exaggeration — the varia- 
tions, which were made, were most of them disapproved of by the author — 
we recollect those passages well — and we repeat what we said at the time of 
re-publication, that the paper was altered for the worse . . , 

[From the Charleston Patriot.] 
This would appear to be an age of calumny and all uncharitableness . . . But as if 
malice is contagious or admits of being propagated, a coadjutor to the " Native of Virginia '* 
iias appeared in the Federal Republican, whose article will be found below, and who wishes 
to rob Mr. Jefferson of the fame of having solely written the Declaration of Independence. 
— Richard Henry Lee is credited with the honor of having moved the Declaration, and of 
having corrected and amended the original report of this celebrated paper. Mr. Jefferson 
is not denied having furnished the outlines of the Declaration, but it is pretended that it is 
the work as it now stands of abler hands. Now, the plain intent of this fresh or forgotten 
fragment of history just recovered and brought to light, is to deprive Mr. Jefferson of all 
credit for originality in drawing up the Declaration of Independence . . . The credit of 
being the author of the Declaration is nowise impaired by the subject being moved by 
another ; but the insinuation that the original draft only was furnished by him and not the 
perfect copy as it now stands, is contradicted by the evidence of contemporaries. Let us 
see these promised documents . . . 



APPENDIX 

[From the Philadelphia Union,] 

We have long been acquainted with the facts alluded to in the following article from the 
Federal Republican. We have seen Mr. Jefferson's draft 124 of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, scored and scratched like a school boy's exercise. When Mr. Schaeffer shall 
comply with his promise to publish the documents relating to this subject, the jack daw will 
be stript of the plumage, with which adulation has adorned him, and the crown will be 
placed on the head of a real patriot. 

Richard Henry Lee. — It is truly remarkable that this great statesman is forgotten 
among ail of the celebrities of the Fourth of July. It is to this *' illustrious " patriot, we 
are indebted for our Declaration of Independence, for it was he who moved it in Congress 
. . . Among men of sense, candor and truth, there will be no question whether he who 
dared openly to propose the project, or he who had the principal agency in putting it on 
paper deserves the most credit . . . 

Ere long, we hope to have leisure to publish some very important documents on this sub- 
ject. We have the -very copy 1^*^ of the declaration of independence, as it was originally 
reported and sent by the "illustrious penman," to this same Richard Henry Lee together 
with his remarks 126 on it in his own hand ivriting , . . 

[Fed. Rep. 

The Weekly Register (C and N) referred to — of July 3, 18 13 — 
says : 

The time fitting the purpose, we embrace this occasion to present our 
readers with the Declaration of Independence, placing by its side the original 
draft 127 of Mr. Jefferson^ about which much curiosity and speculation has 
existed. The paper from which we have our copy, was found among the 
literary reliques of the late venerable George IVythe, of Virginia, in the hand 
writing of Mr. J. and delivered to the editor [Thomas Ritchie] of the 
Richmond Enquirer by the executor of Mr. Wythe'' s estate, major Duval. 
The passages stricken out of the original, by the committee, are inserted in 
italics. 

Here follow in separate columns a copy (seemingly) of the Declaration 
as printed by Dunlap under the order of Congress and a copy^^^ (substan- 
tially) of it as submitted to Congress by the committee on June 28th. 
Below appears the following : ** The Declaration as adopted was also 
signed.' ' ; and then come the names of the signers, except that of M:Kean, 
arranged by Colonies. 

As to whether or not a draft was sent to John Page, we have discussed Sent to Page (?) 
elsewhere. ^^^ 

Of the draft sent to Mazzei, mentioned by Jefferson in his letter ^^"^ of Sent to Mazzei 
September 16, 1825, to ]^^^ Vaughan, we have no other record of any 
kind. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

In Jefferson's notes We have already given in the text ^^^ the Declaration as embodied in 
JeiFerson's notes. 

Sent to Madison Jefferson vfnits to Madison, from Monticello, June I, 1783 : " [S] I 
send you inclosed the debates in Congress on the subjects of Independance 
... as you were desirous of having a copy of the original of the 
declaration of Independance I have inserted it at full length disdnguishing 
the alterations it underwent." 

Both this letter and "the debates . . , on . , , Independance," 
with "a copy of the original of the declaration . . , inserted", 
(formerly in the Department of State) are now^^^ in the Library of 
Congress. 

The ''debates" and " declaration " — which purport to be an exact 
copy of, and which are substantially ^^^ the same as, the notes heretofore 
given (See p. 295) — are in the form of a pamphlet (6^ in. by 4 in.). 
At the top of the first page, in the handwriting of Madison, is the follow- 
ing : *' [S] furnished to J. M. by M.I [Jefferson in his hand writing; 
as I a copy from his original notes." They are given in The Madison 
Papers (Washington, 1840), vol. i, p. 9 ; and di facsimile of the Declara- 
tion proper may be found in the third volume. 

if 

A copy of the Declaration — endorsed: ** [S] Original draught of 
Declaration of Independ'^f by MT J." — (formerly in the Department of 
State) also is in the Library of Congress. This, as well as the endorse- 
ment, is in the handwriting of Madison. It was doubtless made from 
the copy of the notes (above referred to) which Jefferson sent him. 



352 



APPENDIX 



DICKINSON'S " VINDICATION " 

^'^ Four charges are brought against me. 

First, That I opposed the declaration of independence in Congress. 

The first charge, as it is made, I deny : but I confess that I opposed 
the making the declaration of independence at the time when it was 
made. The right and authority of Congress to make it, the justice of 
making it, I acknowledged. The policy of then making it I disputed. 

To render this charge criminal, it should be shewn that I was influenced 
by unworthy motives. It will not be enough to prove that I was mistaken : 
so far from it, that if it appears I was actuated by a tender affection for 
my country, I know my country will excuse the honest error. 

When that momentous affair was considered in Congress, I was a 
member of that honourable body for this state. I thereby became a 
trustee for Pennsylvania immediately, and in some measure for the rest 
of America. The business related to the happiness of miUions then in 
existence, and of more millions who were unborn. I felt the duty and 
endeavoured faithfully to discharge it. 

Malice and envy must sigh and confess, that I was among the very 
first men on this continent, who by the open and decided steps we took 
staked our lives and fortunes on our country's cause. This was done at 
an asra of the greatest danger, as it was unknown how far we should be 
supported. In this point, no reserve, no caution was used by me ; and, 
tho* marked out by peculiar circumstances for the resentment and vengeance 
of our enemies, if they had succeeded, I frankly pledged my all for her 
freedom. 

Thus far I had a right to go, whatever I ventured, for I was risking 
only my own. But when I came to deliberate on a point of the last 
importance to you and my other fellow citizens, and to your and their 
posterity, then^ and not till then, I became guilty of reserve and caution — 
if it was guilt to be more concerned for you and them, than I had been 
for myself. For you and them I freely devoted myself to every hazard. 
For you and them I exerted all my cares and laboursy that not one drop 
of blood should be unnecessarily drawn from American veins, nor one 
scene of misery needlesly introduced within American borders. 
23 353 



/ 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

My first objection to making the declaration of independence, at the 
time when it was made, arose from this consideration: It was acknowl- 
edged in the debate, that the first campaign would be decisive as to the 
final event of the controversy. I insisted that the declaration would not 
strengthen us by one man, or by the least supply — on the contrary, it 
might be construed to manifest such an aversion on our part, as might in- 
flame the calamities of the contest, and expose our soldiers and inhabitants 
in general to additional cruelties and outrages — We ought not, without 
some prelusory trials of our strength, to commit our country upon an alterna- 
tive, where, to recede would be infamy, and to persist might be destruction. 

No instance was recollected of a people, without a battle fought or 
an ally gained, abrogating forever their connection with a great, rich, 
warlike, commercial empire, whose wealth or connections had always 
procured allies when wanted, and bringing the matter finally to a 
prosperous conclusion. 

It was informing our enemies what was the ultimate object of our arms, 
which ought to be concealed until we had consulted other powers, and 
were better prepared for resistance — It would too soon confirm the 
charges of those in Great Britain who were most hostile to us, and too 
early contradict the defences made by those who were most friendly 
toward us. It might therefore unite the different parties there against 
us, without our gaining anything in counterbalance. — And it might 
occasion disunion among ourselves, and thus weaken us. 

With other powers, it might rather injure than avail us — There was 
a certain weight and dignity in such movements, when they appeared to 
be regulated by prudence, that would be lost, if they were attributed to 
the emotions of passion. If politicians should be induced to ascribe the 
measure to the violence of this dictator, we might be deprived in their 
judgment of the merit of what they thought we had well done before, 
and of a just credit with them in future for our real force and fixed inten- 
tions — How such a judgment would operate was obvious. 

Foreign aid would not be obtained by the declaration, but by our 
actions in the field, which were the only evidences of our union and 
vigour that would be respected, — and by the sentiments statesmen 
should form upon the relative consequences of the dispute. This opinion 
was confirmed by many similar instances particularly in the war between 
the United Provinces of the Low Countries and Spain, in which France 

354 



APPENDIX 

and England assisted the former, before they declared themselves inde- 
pendent, which they did not do till the ninth year of the war. If it was 
the interest of any European kingdom or state to aid us, we should be 
aided without such a declaration. If it was not we should not be aided 
with it. — On the sixth day of July, 1775, a year within two days 
before the declaration. Congress assured the people of America in an 
address, that, ** Foreign assistance was UNDOUBTEDLr attainable.^'' 

p^crs SUBSEQUENT TO THAT DATE, I^ITH WHICH EVERT MEMBER JVAS 
ACQUAINTED IT WAS NEEDLESS TO MENTION. 

We ought to know the dispositions of the great powers, before such an 
irrevocable step should be taken ; and, if they did not generally chuse to 
interfere, how far they would permit any one or more of them to inter- 
fere. The erection of an Independent Empire on this continent was a 
phsenomenon in the world — Its effects would be immense, and might 
vibrate round the globe — How they might affect, or be supposed to 
affect old establishments, was not ascertained — It was singularly disre- 
spectful to France, to make the declaration before her sense was known, 
as we had sent an agent expressly to enquire, ''whether such a declara- 
tion would be acceptable to her; " and we had reason to believe he was 
then arrived at the court of Versailles — Such precipitation might be 
unsuitable to the circumstances of that kingdom, and inconvenient — The 
measure ought to be delayed, till the common interests should be in the 
best manner consulted, by common consent. Besides, the door to 
accommodation with Great Britain ought not to be shut, until we knew 
what terms could be obtained from some competent power — Thus to 
break with her, before we had compacted with another, was to make 
experiments on the lives and liberties of my countrymen, which I would 
sooner die than agree to make ; at best, it was to throw us into the hands 
of some other power, and to lie at mercy; for we should have passed the 
river, that was never to be repassed — If treated with some regard, we 
might yet be obliged to receive a disagreeable law tacked to a necessary 
aid. This was not the plan we should pursue. We ought to retain the 
declaration, and remain as much masters as possible of our own fame and 
fate — We ought to inform that power, that we were filled with a just 
detestation of our oppressors ; that we were determined to cast off for ever 
all subjection to them ; to declare ourselves independent ; and to support 
that declaration with our lives and fortunes — provided that power should 

355 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

approve the proceeding ; would acknowledge our independence, and 
enter into a treaty with us upon equitable and advantageous conditions. 

True it is, that we have happily succeeded, without observing these 
precautions ; and let my enemies triumph in this concession, when they 
shall have produced an example from history to equal the justice, wisdom, 
benevolence, magnanimity, and good faith, displayed by his most christian 
majesty, in his conduct towards us. Till then, at least, let me be par- 
doned for having doubted — whether there was such a monarch upon 
earth. 

Other objections to making the declaration, at the time when it was 
madCy were suggested by our internal circumstances. To me it seemed, 
that, in the nature of things, the formation of our governments, and an 
agreement upon the terms of our confederation, ought to precede the 
assumption of our station among sovereigns. A sovereignty, composed 
of several distinct bodies of men, not subject to established constitutions 
and those bodies not combined together by the sanction of any confirmed 
articles of union, was such a sovereignty as had never appeared. These 
particulars would not be unobserved by foreign kingdoms and states, and 
they would wait for other proofs of political energy, before they would 
treat us with the desired attention. 

With respect to ourselves, the consideration was still more serious. 

The forming of our governments was a new and difficult work. They 
ought to be rendered as generally satisfactory to the people as possible — 
When this was done, and the people perceived that they and their pos- 
terity were to live under well regulated constitutions, they would be 
encouraged to look forward to confederation and independence, as com- 
pleating the noble system of their political happiness — The objects near- 
est to them were now enveloped in clouds, and therefore those more 
distant must appear confused. That they were independent, they would 
know ; but the relation one citizen was to bear to another, and the con- 
nection one state was to have with another, they did not, could not 
know. Mankind were naturally attached to plans of government, that 
promised quiet and security under them. — General satisfaction with 
them, when formed, would be indeed a great point attained ; but per- 
sons of reflection would perhaps think it absolutely necessary, that Con- 
gress should institute some mode for preserving them from the misfortune 
of future discords. 

The confederation ought to be settled before the declaration of inde- 

356 



APPENDIX 

pendence. Foreigners would think it most regular — The weaker states 
would not be in so much danger of having disadvantageous terms imposed 
upon them by the stronger — If the declaration was first made, political 
necessities might urge on the acceptance of conditions, that were highly- 
disagreeable to parts of the union. The present comparative circumstances 
of the states were now tolerably well understood ; but some states had very 
extraordinary claims to territory, that if admitted in a future confederation, 
as they might be, the terms of it not yet being adjusted all idea of the 
present comparison between them would be confounded — Those states, 
whose boundaries were acknowledged, would find themselves sink in, pro- 
portion to the elevation of their neighbours. Besides, the unlocated lands, 
not comprehended within acknowledged boundaries, were deemed a fund 
sufiicient to defray a vast part, if not the whole, of the expences of the 
war. These ought to be considered as the property of all of the states, 
acquired by the arms of all. For these reasons the boundaries of the 
states ought to be fixed before the declaration, and their respective rights 
mutually guaranteed ; and the unlocated lands ought also previous to that 
declaration to be solemnly appropriated to the benefit of all the states : for 
it might be extremely difficult, if not impracticable, to obtain these de- 
cisions afterwards. Upon the whole, when things should be thus de- 
liberately rendered firm at home, and favourable abroad, then let America 

" Attolens humeris tamam, et fata nepotumy^ 
advance with majestic steps, and assume her station among the sovereigns 
of the world. 

Thus to have thought, and thus to have spoke, was my offence, gentle- 
men, on the subject of independence. Do you condemn me for thinking 
as I did, or for speaking as I thought ? Could the former be a crime ? 
and was not the latter a duty ? What title of infamy would have been 
adequate to my guilt, if, entertaining the sentiments I did, and entrusted 
as I was, any consideration could have prevailed upon me to suppress 
those sentiments on a point of such eventful moment to my country ? 
Was I by her placed in Congress, to re-echo the words of others, or to 
exercise my judgment and obey my conscience, in deciding upon the 
common welfare.? 

A powerful consideration was not wanting, to tempt me into a swerv- 
ing from the rule ever prescribed to myself — that of regarding the general 
good with singleness of heart. 

It was my misfortune to have acquired some share of reputation ; for 

357 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

the injuries done my country have occasioned it. Her love I valued as 
I ought, but not as much as I valued herself. I knew, and told Con- 
gress, that I was acting an unpopular part in the debate upon the decla- 
ration ; and I desired that illustrious assembly to witness the integrity, if 
not the policy of my conduct. 

What other motive can you suspect I had for this behaviour ? Com- 
pare it with my preceding and following actions. Though I spoke my 
sentiment freely, as an honest man ought to do, yet, v^hen a determina- 
tion was made upon the question against my opinion, I received that 
determination as the sacred voice of my country, as a voice that pro- 
claimed her destiny, in which, by every impulse of my soul, I was 
resolved to share, and to stand or fall with her in that plan of freedom 
which she had chosen. From that moment, it became my determina- 
tion ; and I cheerfully contributed my endeavours for its perpetual 
establishment. 

Have you forgot, gentlemen, this remarkable circumstance, that 
within a few days, to the best of my remembrance, within a week, 
AFTER the declaratio7i of independence , I was the only^^^ member of Con- 
gress that marched with my regiment to Ehzabeth Town against our 
enemies, then invading the state of New York, and continued in actual 
service there, daily in sight of them, every moment exposed, and fre- 
quently expecting upon intelligence received to be attacked, during the 
whole tour of duty performed by the militia of this city and neighbour- 
hood. 

Be pleased to decide, what was my motive for this conduct. Be 
pleased also to consider what is the reason, why none of your writers, in 
the multitude of their pubhcations against me, have ever mentioned, or 
even given the least hint of this fact. Don't you really believe, that, if 
it was thought by them only a trifling circumstance in my favour, they 
would have taken some notice of it, and, with one of their witty turns, 
have consigned it over to contempt ? Don't you really believe, it was 
thought by them a strong proof of my devotion to the independence of 
America, when once it became the resolution of America — a proof which 
they wish never to be remembered in Pennsylvania — and a clear demon- 
stration that all my arguments, concerning the time of making the declara- 
tion, were in my judgement and conscience done away, and were of no 
more use, after it was made^ than the rubbish caused in erecting a palace r 

358 



APPENDIX 

Reasons that were proper in a debate^ were useless after a decision ; and 
the nature of these evinces that they opposed only the time of the declara- 
tion y and not independence itself. 

That event has proved, that the national council w^as right ; and may 
others learn, by my instance, to venerate the wisdom collected in that 
august body, as they ought to do. There is a light in that constellation, 
sufficient to direct the vessel freighted with the fortunes of America, 
through the tempestuous ocean upon which she sails, safe, in the wish'd 
for port — if the people will but be guided by it. 

Is it an incredible thing with you gentlemen, that a man might desire 
the declaration to be deferred, and yet heartily maintain it after it was 
made ! If so, what do you think of those men, who opposed the 
declaration in Congress as earnestly as I did, and now hold the highest 
posts under the United States, or some of them, are possessed of their 
utmost confidence, and discharge their respective duties with distinguished 
honour to themselves and advantage to America ? What do you think of 
numbers oi brave officers in our army, who wished the declaration to be 
deferred, and yet, from the instant it was made, and ever since have, 
under a load of difficulties, traversed different regions of this continent, 
freely to proffer their blood for its support? 



359 



Notes to Text 



Notes to Text 



CHAPTER I 

^ See Life of George Washington, 

2 See p. 9. 

^ Georgia only was unrepresented. See note 60, chapter 11. 

* He signed the Declaration on parchment now in the 
Department of State. 

^ Galloway says of him (See Historical and Political Reflections 
on the Rise and Progress of the American Rebellion^ London, 1780) 
that he " eats little, drinks little, sleeps little, thinks much, and 
is most decisive and indefatigable in the pursuit of his objects." 
Jefferson is reported (See note 22, chapter VI) as saying (Also, 
see note 53, chapter IV): "For depth of purpose, zeal, and 
sagacity, no man in Congress exceeded, if any equalled, Sam 
Adams ; and none did more to originate and sustain revolution- 
ary measures in Congress. But he could not speak. He had a 
hesitating, grunting manner." John Adams, in his Autobiography^ 
says (evidently of him) that "when he did speak, his sentiments 
were clear and pertinent and neatly expressed." 

» 

Samuel and John Adams are compared by Jefferson, in a letter 
of 18 19 to Wells, as follows: " [P] I can say that he [Samuel 
Adams] was truly a great man, wise in council, fertile in re- 
sources, immovable in his purposes ... as a speaker he could 
not be compared with his living colleague and namesake [John 

363 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Adams], whose deep conceptions, nervous style, and undaunted 
firmness made him truly our bulwark in debate, but mr Samuel 
Adams, altho' not of fluent elocution, was so vigorously logical, 
so clear in his views, abundant in good sense, and master always 
of his subject that he commanded the most profound attention 
whenever he rose in an assembly by which the froth of declama- 
tion was heard with the most sovereign contempt." Also, see 
note 53, chapter IV. 

^ See latter part of note 5, supra, 
'' See note 38, chapter VIII. 

^ John Adams, in his Diary^ says : " He is between fifty and 
sixty, a solid, sensible man." He writes later of him : " . . . 
generally he stands upright, with his hands before him, the 
fingers of his left hand clenched into a fist, and the wrist of it 
grasped with his right. But he has a clear head and sound 
judgment ; but when he moves a hand in anything like action, 
Hogarth's genius could not have invented a motion more opposite 
to grace ; — it is stiffness and awkwardness itself, rigid as starched 
linen or Buckram ; awkward as a junior bachelor or a sophomore." 
^ " Duane ", writes John Adams, in his Diary^ " has a sly, 
surveying eye, a little squint-eyed ; between forty and forty-five, 
I should guess . . . very sensible, I think, and very artful." 

^^ John Adams, in his Diary^ says : " Mr. Jay is a young 
gentleman of the law, of about twenty-six." 

1^ John Adams writes : " Phil. Livingston is a great, rough, 
rapid mortal. There is no holding any conversation with him. 
He blusters away ..." 

^2 See p. 140. 

^^ John Adams writes : " He is a plain man, tall, black, 
wears his hair, nothing elegant or genteel about him." 

^* If we can credit John Adams, Rodney was "the oddest 
looking man in the world ; he is tall, thin and slender as a reed, 
pale; his face is not bigger than a large apple, yet there is sense 
and fire, spirit, wit, and humor in his countenance." 

364 



NOTES TO TEXT 

^5 Dr. Benjamin Rush says: "[Rid] W^a Paca — a good 
tempered worthy Man, with a sound Understanding which he 
was too indolent to exercise. He therefore gave himself up 
to be directed both in his political Opinions & conduct by 
Sam^ Chase who had been the friend of his youth, & for whom 
he retained a regard in every Stage of his life " 

^^ Rush says: "[Rid] Samuel Chase — a bold declaimer with 
slender reasoning powers. His person & manner were very 
acceptable, — and to these, he owned much of his success in 
political life.'* 

^^ John Adams, in his Autobiography^ under date of Feb- 
ruary 29, 1776, says: "He was represented to be a kind of 
nexus utr'iusque mundi^ a corner stone in which the two walls 
of party met in Virginia. He was descended from one of the 
most ancient, wealthy, and respectable families in the ancient 
dominion, and seemed to be set up in opposition to Mr. Richard 
Henry Lee." Also, see note 93, chapter IX. 

^^ After one of the debates of this Congress, John Adams 
speaks of him as " a perfect Bob-o-Lincoln, — a swallow, a 
sparrow, a peacock ; excessively vain, excessively weak, and 
excessively variable and unsteady ; jejeune, inane, and puerile.** 
In 1775, he writes: " Rutledge Is a very uncouth and ungraceful 
speaker; he shrugs his shoulders, distorts his body, nods and 
wriggles with his head, and looks about from side to side, and 
speaks through his nose, as the Yankees sing. His brother John 
dodges his head too, rather disagreeably, and both of them spout 
out their language in a rough and rapid torrent, but without 
much force or effect." 

1^ John Adams writes : " He is a solid, firm, judicious 
man." 

^^ John Adams describes him as " a tall, spare man ... a 
gentleman of fine talents, of amiable manners and great worth 
. . . he is a masterly man.'* Also, see note 17, supra^ and 
note 4, chapter IV. 

365 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

21 This seems strange ; for, as stated, he appears to have been 
in Philadelphia for some days : see p. 5. 

22 See p. 140. 

23 John Adams writes : " Alsop Is a merchant, of a good heart, 
but unequal to the trust In point of abilities, Mr. Scott thinks." 
After he himself met Alsop, he described him as " a soft, sweet 
man." 

2^ John Adams writes : " Mr. Dickinson has been subject to 
hectic complaints. He is a shadow ; tall, but slender as a reed ; 
pale as ashes ; one would think at first sight that he could not 
live a month ; yet, upon more attentive inspection, he looks as 
if the springs of life were strong enough to last many years." 

25 On account of indisposition, he was superseded, October 
22d, by Middleton. 

26 See note 6, chapter IV. 

2" See Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry. The 
statement seems scarcely supported by what were Henry's later 
(though, perhaps, more deeply considered) views (See note 77, 
chapter HI), following the receipt of a letter (See note 4, chap- 
ter IV) from R. H. Lee. See also a letter from Madison to 
Jared Sparks dated January 5, 1828, in Letters and other Writ' 
ings of fames Madison^ etc. 

2^ See Traditions and Reminiscences chief y of the American Revo- 
lution in the South ^ etc., (185 1). 



CHAPTER II 



^ Timothy Dwight, in Travels ; in New- England and New 
Tork (1821), says : "... in the month of July, 1775, I urged, 
in conversation with several Gentlemen of great respectability, 
firm Whigs, and my intimate friends, the importance, and even 
the necessity of a declaration of Independence . . . and alleged 

366 



NOTES TO TEXT 

for this measure the very same arguments, which afterwards were 
generally considered as decisive ; but found them disposed to give 
me, and my arguments, a hostile, and contemptuous, instead of a 
cordial, reception . . . These gentlemen may be considered as 
representatives of the great body of thinking men in this country. 
A few may perhaps be excepted ; but none of these durst at any 
time openly declare their opinions to the public." 

Jay writes, to George Alexander Otis, January 13, 1821 : 
" [NE^] During the course of my Life, and until after the 
second Petition of congress (in 1775), I never did hear any 
American, of any class, or of any Description, express a wish 
for the Independence of the colonies ... It has always been, 
and still is, my Opinion and Belief, that our country was 
prompted and impelled to Independence by necessity and not 
by choice." 

John Adams writes, also to Otis, February 9th of the same 
year : " [NE^] I cannot refrain from the pleasure I have re- 
ceived from the reasoning of Mr. Jay, upon the passage from 
Botta [See note 24, chapter IV] — ' That anteriour to the Rev- 
olution there existed in the Colonies a desire of Independence.* 
There is great ambiguity in the expression, there existed in the 
Colonies a desire of Independence — it is true there always 
existed In the Colonies a desire of Independence of Parliament, 
in the articles of internal Taxation, and Internal policy . . . 
but there never existed a desire of Independence of the Crown, 
or of general regulations of Commerce, for the equal and impar- 
tial benefit of all parts of the Empire. — It is true there might 
be times and circumstances in which an Individual, or few Indi- 
viduals, might entertain and express a wish that America was 
Independent in all respects, but these were ' rari nantes in 
gurgite vasto.' . , . That there existed a general desire of Inde^ 
pendence of the Colonies in any part of America before the Revo- 
lution, is as far from the truth, as the Zenith is from the Nadir." 

2 Bartlett, at Philadelphia, writes thence to Langdon, January 

367 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

13, 1776 : "[BT] This morning I see in the newspaper, (which 
by the way is almost the only way I hear from our Colony) that 
Portsmouth has appointed Mess" Cutts Sherburne and Long, 
to represent that town in Provincial Convention, and by the 
instructions I find the town is very much affraid of the idea Con- 
veyed by the frightful word Independence ! This week a pamph- 
let on that subject was printed here, and greedily bought up and 
read by all ranks of people — I shall send you one of them which 
you will please to lend round to the people; perhaps on Consid- 
eration there may not appear any thing so terrible in that thought 
as they may at first apprehend if Britain should force us to break 
off all Connections with her." 

For Samuel Adams' comment on these instructions, see his 
letter to John Adams of January 19, 1776, in The Life and Works 
of John Adams. 

3 Xhe action of the Provincial Congress may be found at p. 41. 

* Taken from The Pennsylvania Gazette (N) of March i, 1775. 

^ Taken from The Pennsylvania Gazette (N) of February 22, 

^775- 

^ Josiah Quincy, Jr., however, writes, from London, November 
27, 1774 (See Memoir of the Life of fosiah ^incy^ Junior^ etc.) : 
" Dr. Franklin is an American in heart and soul. You may 
trust him : his ideas are not contracted within the narrow limits 
of exemption from taxes, but are extended upon the broad scale 
of total emancipation." 

For Franklin's letters of May i6th and December 9th (1775), 
see p. 33. 

On July 23d (1775), John Adams writes to his wife: "[Ad] 
Dr. Franklin . . . thinks us at present in an odd state, neither 
in peace nor war, neither dependent nor independent ; but he 
thinks that we shall soon assume a character more decisive. 
He thinks that we have the power of preserving ourselves ; and 
that even if we should be driven to the disagreeable necessity of 

368 



NOTES TO TEXT 

assuming a total independency, and set up a separate state, we 
can maintain it." 

"* For his letter of May 7th, see p. 33. 

^ A/[any Englishmen even recognized the folly of the measures 
adopted by their country. A letter from London dated March 
loth says: "Our political madness is still in its zenith, and we 
are consequently taking the most effectual measures that the wit 
or folly of man can devise to render America totally independent 
of this Country." Indeed, Rush writes, under the heading 
"[Rid] 1785 Conversations with D' Franklin " : "Dined with 
the Df w^!' D' Ramsay — M', Rittinhouse &c . . . He said in 
1756. when he went to England he had a long conversation 
with M'' Pratt — (afterwards Lord Camden) who told him that 
Britain would drive the Colonies to Independance. This he 
said first led him to realise its occurring shortly." 

^ The date of the Raleigh (North Carolina) Register from 
which this was taken is April 30, 18 19. M. O. Sherill, Librarian 
of the Library Department of North Carolina, writes us, under 
date of November 20, 1899, ^^^^ there is a copy in the Library 
Department at Raleigh. 

^^ Joseph Gales was the printer; and he evidently is meant. 

^^ The " following document " itself (which had " lately come 
in the hands of the editor") is stated later (See p. 22) to have 
been " a . . . copy of the papers . . . left in my [J. M'Knitt's : 
Dr. Joseph M'Knitte Alexander's, see note 1%^ post'] hands by 
[and evidently in the handwriting of] John Matthew [John 
M'Knitte: see note i\^ post] Alexander, deceased." (See, how- 
ever, note 16, postS) 

No one is now able to locate, as we understand, either the 
" copy " (which was very likely destroyed by the " editor ") or 
the " papers " left in the hands of Dr. Joseph M'Knitte Alexan- 
der from which it is stated to have been copied. 

If 
24 369 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

See note 29, post. 

12 This is not material. 

^3 These brackets are, of course, in the Essex Register. 

1* Sherill says also that "Matthew" is " M'Knitte " in the 
Raleigh Register. 

^^ In The Declaration of Independence by the Citizens of Mecklen- 
burg County^ etc.^ Published by the Governor^ Under the authority 
and direction of the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina 
(1831) (C and N) is a foot-note which says: "This copy the 
writer well recollects to have seen in the possession of Doct. 
Williamson, in the year 1793, in Fayetteville, together with a 
letter to him from John McNitt Alexander, and to have con- 
versed with him on the subject." (It will be remembered that 
John M'Knitte Alexander writes — See p. 32 — that this copy 
" was forwarded to him [Williamson] by Col. Wm. Polk.") 
(A statement from Polk himself as to " the words of the Com- 
mittee " is given in note 2(^^post.) 

If, as thus appears to be the fact, this copy sent to Williamson 
was made before the " records and papers were burnt " (See 
p. 32), it is much to be regretted that it has not been located, 
or that "the writer" did not make a copy of it, in 1793. 

(^The History of North Carolina by Dr. Hugh Williamson was 
published in 181 2.) 

# 

It is claimed that Francois-Xavier Martin procured a copy of 
the original record before it was destroyed by fire, and that this 
appears in The History of North Carolina^ etc. This claim is 
based upon the statement (repeated, it seems, in an address at 
Charlotte, May 20, 1857) ^^ ^^^- Francis L. Hawks in an 
address to the New York Historical Society, December 16, 1853 
(See " The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence," etc., 
in Revolutionary History of North Carolina^ compiled by William 
D, Cooke): "Judge Martin obtained them [the resolves] in 

370 



NOTES TO TEXT 

manuscript, from the western part of North Carolina, and pro- 
cured them as he did most of his other materials, before the year 
1800 ... I knew him intimately, and had known him from 
my childhood and I conversed with him touching these and 
other events in our history ; for, partly at his suggestion, I 
had undertaken to prepare a history of North Carolina myself. 
Many of his original materials had been lost, for in the latter 
years of his life he was blind." (Hawks claims that the resolves 
as given by Martin are Ephriam Brevard's rough draft.) Martin 
himself, in his Preface^ dated " Gentilly, near New Orleans, July 
20, 1829", says: " The writer . . . had arranged all those [ma- 
terials] that related to transactions, anterior to the declaration of 
independence, when, in 1809, Mr. Madison thought his services 
were wanted, first in the Mississippi territory and afterwards in 
that of Orleans . . . The public prints stated, that a gentleman 
of known industry and great talents, who has filled a very high 
place in North Carolina, was engaged in a similar work; but 
several years have elapsed since, and nothing favors the belief, 
that the hopes which he had excited, will soon be realized. 
This gentleman had made application for the materials now pub- 
lished, and they would have been forwarded to him, if they had 
been useful to any but him who had collected them. In their 
circuitous way from Newbern to New-York and New-Orleans, 
the sea water found its way to them : since their arrival, the 
mice, worms, and the variety of insects of a humid and warm 
climate, have made great ravages among them. The ink of 
several very ancient documents has grown so pale, as to render 
them nearly illegible; and notes hastily taken on the journey, are 
in so cramped a hand, that they are not to be deciphered by any 
person but him who made them. The determination has been 
taken to put the work immediately to press, in the condition it 
was when it reached New-Orleans : this has prevented any use 
being made of Williamson's History of North Carolina, a copy 
of which did not reach the writer's hands until after his arrival in 

371 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Louisiana." The resolves appear in the last chapter of the 
second (and last) volume; and the six pages (almost) which 
treat of Mecklenburg County matters give a slight indication, 
it may be, of having been set up distinct from the balance of the 
chapter. The resolves are a more or less polished version of 
the resolves as given in the Essex Register^ together vi^ith the 
additional resolve : " Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions 
be transmitted, by express, to the president of the continental 
congress, assembled in Philadelphia, to be laid before that body." 
It seems to us that Hawks* " 1800" is a mistake, or a misprint 
for "1809". Indeed, is it not apparent from Hawks' own 
language that he is merely giving Martin's Preface? Indeed, 
also, it must be remembered that Hawks himself says : " In con- 
senting to the preservation of the following lecture in a per- 
manent form, the author owes it to himself to say, that it was 
prepared on a very short notice, and indeed, in such intervals of 
leisure as could be snatched from the duties of two days only." 
Hawks does not attempt to say where Martin "-procured them". 

fl 

It also is claimed that Alexander Garden procured a copy of 
the original record before it was destroyed by fire, and that this 
appears in Anecdotes of the American Revolution published in 
Charleston, S. C, in 1828. This claim is based upon the fact 
that the resolves as given by him are the same (essentially) as 
those given by Martin and upon the reasoning that Garden could 
not have gotten them from Martin because Garden's Anecdotes^ 
etc., was published first. 

May not Martin have sent a copy to Garden, previous to 
1828, or may not Martin have taken the resolves from Garden's 
Anecdotes^ etc., of 1828 (for convenience, if for no other reason) 
and the remainder of his information from the Raleigh Register 
or gotten it from Garden by letter or from Dr. Joseph M'Knitte 
Alexander or Archibald Debow Murphy (See note 29, post) } 

372 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Certainly, Garden's first publication, in 1822, does not mention 
the resolves. Certainly, also. Garden's Anecdotes^ etc., published 
in 1828 says: "The Subscription Lists have been handed in so 
slowly, that it might appear invidious to print one that would be 
imperfect. Upwards of seven hundred names are in possession, 
but many more are expected from parts of the country where it 
is probable this work will be most in circulation. Yet, should 
they speedily arrive, they shall be immediately published." 

u 

Dr. J. B. Alexander In The History of Mecklenburg County 
(1902) quotes the resolves from Martin. 

^^ In The Declaration^ etc., (See note 15, supra) is a certifi- 
cate of Samuel Henderson, dated Mecklenburg County, Novem- 
ber 25, 1830, which says : "... the paper annexed was 
obtained by me from Maj. William R. Davie, in its present 
situation, soon after the death [November 8, 1820] of his father. 
Gen. William R. Davie, and given to Doct. Joseph M'Knitt by 
me. In searching for some particular paper, I came across this, 
and, knowing the handwriting of John M'Knitt Alexander, took 
it up, and examined it. Maj. Davie said to me (when asked 
how it became torn) his sisters had torn it, not knowing what 
it was " ; also a foot-note which says : " To this certificate of 
Doct. Henderson is annexed the copy of the paper A, originally 
deposited by John M'Knitt Alexander in the hands of Gen. Davie 
, . . This paper is somewhat torn, but it is entirely legible . . ."; 
and also: " Gen. Davie died shortly after the date of Mr. Jeffer- 
son's letter [See p. 24] ; but this identical copy, known by the 
writer of these remarks to be in the handwriting of John M'Nitt 
Alexander ... is now in the Executive Ofiice of this State." 

The " paper A " consists merely of resolves (essentially) as 
given in the Essex Register. 

See p. 32. 

# 
373 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

In The Declaration^ etc., there is also what purports to be an 
" Extract from the Memoir of the late Rev. Humphrey Hunter", 
which contains a copy of resolves likewise (essentially) as given 
in the Essex Register, It says, in a note : " The foregoing 
extract is copied from a manuscript account of the Revolutionary 
War in the South, addressed by the writer to a friend, who had 
requested historical information upon the subject." We regret 
that the date of the " manuscript account " is not given. The 
extract itself says : " The following were selected, and styled 
Delegates, and are here given, according to my best recollection 
. . . On that memorable day, I was 20 years and 14 days of 
age, a very deeply interested spectator . . ." 

17 Sherill says also that " Davies " is " Davie " in the Raleigh 
Register. 

18 Sherill says also that " M'Knitt " is "M'Knitte" in the 
Raleigh Register. Also, William A. Graham (See note '^^•tpost) 
says that Dr. Joseph M'Knitte Alexander (who is stated to have 
been a son of John M'Knitte Alexander, who is stated to have 
died in 18 17) often signed himself simply "Joseph M'Knitte ". 

1^ See p. 90. 

2^ Of this, there can be no doubt. 

^1 He was the editor of the Richmond Enquirer. 

22 See note 18, supra^ and note 2g^ post. 

23 See p. 18. 

2* He arrived in Halifax, April 15, 1776, and did not return 
to Congress until after July 4th : see p. 83 and note 51, chapter 
IX, respectively. 

His letter (See p. 8) of April 26, 1774, to Iredell (See 
p. 85) is given in full in J Defence of the Revolutionary History 
of the State of North Carolina from the Aspersions of Mr, Jefferson 
by Jo. Seawell Jones (1834). See also p. 80 et seq. 

^ He was not a Delegate in 177^: see note 6$^ post, 

374 



NOTES TO TEXT 

26 He first appeared in Congress, October 12, lyjS' see note 
65, post. It seems likely, however, that Jefferson here refers to 
Penn's return, after an absence with Hooper, just before July 4, 
1776 : see p. 83 and note 51, chapter IX. 

^'' It will, however, be remembered that Jefferson appeared in 
Congress for the first time, June 21, 1775. 

2^ Taken from The Declaration^ etc., (See note 15, supra), 

29 These may be found in The Declaration^ etc., (See note 15, 
supra)^ and in Force's American Archives^ ser. 4, vol. 2, p. 855. 

Under date of August 18, 18 19, and, therefore, six months 
before they were printed in the Raleigh Register^ Polk wrote, as 
would appear from what seem to be the originals now in the 
New York Public Library (Lenox), from Raleigh to " [N] 
A [rchibald] . D [ebow] . Murphy " (who was then in the Senate 
of North Carolina and who, William A. Graham says, was about 
to write a history when he died suddenly) and enclosed a copy 
(essentially) of what had first appeared in the Raleigh Register 
(bearing also "J M^'K Alexander Sen " immediately preceding the 
certificate at the end) as well as a statement from his own pen. 

The letter says : " It has not been in my power to bestow as 
much time on the subjects mentioned in your memorandum of 
the 16! ult. as I would have wished . . ." 

The copy enclosed (which appears to us to be in the same hand 
as the letter and statement) has at the top of the first page : 
" [N] Copy of Jo. M? K. Alexanders letter to Wm. Davidson 
on Declaration of Indepence Meek? ", and, on the back of the 
last page : " Copy of Letter to Wm Davidson at Congress with 
the declaration of Independence by the C of Mecklenberg 
May 20, 1775 ". 

Polk's statement, which, in general, is merely an amplification 
of the subject-matter of Alexander's, embraces resolves which are 
the same (essentially, but without a number of words, among 

375 



Ni 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

them " and inalienable ", etc.) as those given in the Essex Register^ 
together with the additional resolve : " [N] Resolved, That the 
foregoing resolutions, be adopted and are so accordingly done 
unanimously, & that the Delegates sign their names to the same." 
and also the following : " The Resolution of the Mecklenburg 
Delegacy, is taken from a manuscript copy given by Doctor Jos. 
M^Knitt Alexander of Mecklenburg — I cannot vouch for their 
being in the words of the Committee who framed them, but 
they are essentially so ... At the time this meeting took place 
& for years before & after my father Thomas Polk was the most 
popular man in the County . . . and it was almost altogether 
attributed to him, the course that was taken by the people of that 
County . . ." 

^^ See note 15, supra. The report, as shown, may be found 
also in Force's American Archives^ ser. 4, vol. 2, p. 855. 

^1 The New-Tor k yournal ; or^ the General Advertiser (C) of 
June 29, 1775, also printed a portion of the resolves here given. 

^^ See the communication from Peter Force in the Daily 
National Intelligencer (C) of December 18, 1838. The copy of 
The South- Carolina Gazette^ etc., in Charleston (See note 33, />«^/) 
is stated to have been found there by Dr. Joseph Johnson in 1847 
and another copy in England by Bancroft when he was Minister. 

^^ Taken from the facsimile in the collection of Dr. Thomas 
Addis Emmet now in the New York Public Library (Lenox). 
Ellen M. FitzSimons, Librarian of the Charlestown Library 
Society, in Charleston, S. C, writes us, under date of De- 
cember 18, 1 90 1, that a copy of the paper containing reso- 
lutions of the 31st is there. 

^ It will be noticed that the resolutions as given in the Essex 
Register of June 5, 18 19, ante., are dated May 20th. 

3^ It will be seen, by comparison, how different these resolu- 
tions are from those given in the Essex Register of June 5, 1 819, 
ante, 

376 



NOTES TO TEXT 

36 Neither this nor any of the following that is not given is 
material. 

37 The account as found in the Essex Register of June 5, 1819^ 
ante^ which purports to have been taken from the papers of John 
M'Knitte Alexander, says that John M'Knitte Alexander was 
clerk. See, however, in support of the above, p. 28. 

38 Looking at Why North Carolinians believe in The Mecklen- 
burg Declaration of Independence of May 20th, /775, by Dr. George 
W. Graham and Alexander Graham (1895), we find a complete 
endorsement of the resolutions of the 20th, which it says ap- 
peared in the Cape Fear Mercury. The only copy existing of 
this, it says, was taken from the British State Paper Office by 
Andrew Stevenson, a friend of Jefferson, and never returned. 

See also " Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence May 20, 
1775" by C. M. Wilcox in the Magazine of American History 
(C) for January, 1889, which takes the resolves evidently from 
the Raleigh Register. 

« 

Indeed, Collier'' s (C) of July I, 1905, gives what purports to 
be 2i facsimile of The Cape Fear Mercury of June 3, 1775, and 
says : 

This copy of the '' Mercury " was discovered among some papers of 
Andrew Stevenson, U. S. Minister to the Court of St. fames* s, and is 
probably the same copy that Gov. Josiah Martin sent to London in I'jys, 
and that was removed from the British Foreign Office in 18 jy. The 
original (8^ X 13^ inches^ is very frail and much foxed, so that it 
was with difficulty that a photograph of it could be made. The text in 
the first column reads as follows : 

In conformity to an order issued by the Colonel of Mecklen- 
burg County, in North Carolina, a Convention, vested with 
unlimited powers, met at Charlotte, in said County, on the Nine- 
teenth day of May, 1775, when Abraham Alexander was chosen 
Chairman, and John McKnitt Alexander, Secretary. After a 
free and full discussion of the objects of the Convention, it was 
unanimously resolved, 

377 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

I. That whosoever, directly or indirectly, abetted, or in any 
way, form or manner, countenanced the unchartered and danger- 
ous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an 
enemy to this country, to America and to the inherent and 
inalienable rights of man. 

II. Resolved, that we, the citizens of Mecklenburg County, do 
hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the 
mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance 
to the British Crown, and abjure all political connection, con- 
tract, or association with that nation, who have wantonly tram- 
pled on our rights and liberties, and inhumanly shed the innocent 
blood of American patriots at Lexington. 

III. Resolved, that we do hereby declare ourselves a free and 
independent people, are and of right ought to be, a sovereign and 
self-governing association under the control of no power other 
than that of our God and the general government of Congress ; 
to the maintenance of which independence we solemnly pledge to 
each other cur mutual cooperation, our lives, our fortunes, and 
our most sacred honor. 

J. M. Alexander, Secretary. Abraham Alexander, Chairman. 
[Hereafter follow the names of the twenty-three other signers.] 

The accompanying article is by Dr. S. Millington Miller, who 
says : " I have prepared this article, and reproduced its original 
and hitherto unprocurable illustrations, to prove for good and all 
that there was a public assembly called at Charlotte, North Caro- 
lina, on May 19 and 20, 1775 . . ." 

It is not stated where, when or under what circumstances The 
Cape Fear Mercury mentioned " was discovered among some 
papers of Andrew Stevenson ". 

See The Daily News and Observer (C) of July 2, 1 905. 

u 

We know that, on August 8, 1775, Governor Martin is- 
sued a proclamation in which he said : " And whereas, I have 
also seen a most Infamous publication in the Cape- Fear Mercury^ 
importing to be Resolves of a set of people styling themselves a 
Committee for the County of Mecklenburgh, most traitorously 

378 



NOTES TO TEXT 

declaring the entire dissolution of the Laws, Government, and 
Constitution of this Country, and setting up a system of rule and 
regulation repugnant to the laws, and subversive of His Majesty's 
Government ..." 

(It will be noted that the resolves as given in The South- 
Carolina Ga%ette^ etc., were by the "Committee of this county".) 

%u 

The True Origin and Source of the Mecklenburg and National 
Declaration of Independence (1847) ^7 ^^^' Thomas Smyth gives 
the resolves of The South- Carolina Gazette^ etc., as of the jo/^. 

39 This would seem to have been the viev/ taken by Bancroft 
(See The History of the United States of America^ etc.), though his 
language is not very explicit. See also " The Mecklenburg 
Declaration of Independence, May 20, 1775" by James C. 
Welling in The North American Review (C) for April, 1874; 
" The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence President 
Welling's reply to General Wilcox" in the Magazine of Amer- 
ican History (C) for March, 1889; ^^^ ^'^^ American Revolu- 
tion (1893) by John Fiske. 

8 

The Address of the Hon. Wm. A. Graham on the Mecklenburg 
Declaration of Independence of the 20th of May., ^JJSt delivered at 
Charlotte, February 4, 1875, says: "The day is not at all 
material, in so small a difference in the dates." 

^0 It might perhaps be asked. Why does not the report of the 
General Assembly contain the certificate attached to the " Davie 
copy " ? 

*^ Taken from The North-Carolina University Magazine (N) 
for May, 1853. 

James C. Welling, in the Magazine of American History (C) 
for March, 1889, says: "This full certificate was published 
For the first time, so far as I know, by the Rev. Prof. Charles 
Phillips, D. D., in an elaborate article contributed by him to the 

379 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

North Carolina University Magazine of May, 1853. When Prof 
Phillips wrote his article, the ' Davie copy * of the declaration 
had been placed in his hands by Governor Swain, then President 
of North Carolina University, who had temporarily removed the 
copy from the archives of the state department at Raleigh, that it 
might be subjected to a critical inspection. After making his 
transcript of it, Prof. Phillips returned the ' Davie copy ' to Gov- 
ernor Swain. It is now reported to be lost or mislaid, but the 
authority of the certificate, as transcribed and published by Prof. 
Phillips, has never been questioned. I have private letters from 
him in which he confirms the textual accuracy of the certificate 
as given ... in its integrity. His high personal character is a 
sufiicient guarantee for his loyalty to truth in this matter. More- 
over, as the document at the time of its publication was still in 
the custody of Governor Swain, it is impossible that a member 
of his faculty, writing with his full cognizance, could have pub- 
lished a falsification of the document without instantaneous detec- 
tion and exposure." 

The " Davie copy ", as given in The North- Carolina University 
Magazine^ consists of the resolves (proper) only, which, as there 
given, are the same (essentially) as those given in the Essex 
Register. 

^2 This view is taken by Henry S. Randall in The Life of 
Thomas Jefferson (1858) and by C. L. Hunter in Sketches of 
Western North Carolina^ etc. ^ (1877). 

ft 
Hunter, among other things, says: "Since the publication of 
Governor Graham's pamphlet [See note 39, supra^ shortly before 
the Centennial Celebration in Charlotte another copy of the 
Mecklenburg resolutions of the 20th of May, 1775, has been 
found in the possession of a grandson of Adam Brevard, now 
residing in Indiana. This copy has all the outward appearances 

380 



NOTES TO TEXT 

of age, has been sacredly kept in the family, and is in a good state 
of preservation. Adam Brevard was a younger brother of Dr. 
Ephriam Brevard . . . This important and additional testimony, 
here slightly condensed, but facts not changed, is extracted from 
a communication in the Southern Home^ by Dr. J. M. Davidson, 
of Plorida, a man of great moral worth and high integrity, a grand- 
son of Adam Brevard, a brother of Ephriam Brevard . . ." 

We do not know why the name and address of the " grand- 
son" in Indiana and a copy of the "copy " found in his posses- 
sion were not given. 

u 

Moncure Daniel Conway, in The Life of Thomas Pa'ine^ etc., 
says : " But the testimony is very strong in favor of two sets 
of resolutions.'* 

^2 This view is taken by Johnson in Traditions^ etc. See also 
The Address^ etc., (See note 39, supra'). 

^* For his letters of August 25th and November 29th, see pp. 
18 and 19, respectively. 

*^ See Washington's letter, p. 41. 

*^ He arrived in America, May 5th. For his letter of March 
22d, see p. 17. 

*7 For fuller statement, see The Life and Works of John Adams^ 
vol. 2, p. 410. 

*^ Charles Francis Adams tells us : " [J] Dr. Benjamin Rush 
says of the author [John Adams], in a manuscript in the Editor's 
hands, — ■ ' I saw this gentleman walk the streets of Philadelphia 
alone, after the publication of his intercepted letter in our news- 
papers, in 1775, an object of nearly universal scorn and de- 
testation.' " Also, see note 3, chapter VI. 

^^ Taken from Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society^ 
XII, 227. 

^^ He signed the Declaration on parchment now in the Depart- 
ment of State. 

381 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^1 He was elected, December 5, 1774. 

^2 He was elected, January 25th. 

53 Willing and Wilson were elected. May 6th. John Adams 
describes the former as a "[J] judge . . . Mr. Willing is the 
most sociable, agreeable man of all." The other members of 
the delegation — leaving Franklin out of consideration — were the 
same as appeared in 1774, except Rhoads, who was left out at 
the election held, December 15, 1774. 

See note 69, post. 

5* He was elected in December, 1774. 

55 He was elected by the Parish, March 21st. Also, see note 
60, post. 

5^ He was elected in December, 1774. 

5'' As to his election, etc., see note 39, chapter IX. 

^^ See p. 140. 

^^ He was elected on March 27th " in the room of the Hon- 
ourable Peyton Randolph, Esq., in case of the non-attendance 
of the said Peyton Randolph, Esq." Samuel Ward writes to his 
brother, Henry Ward, June 22d : " Yesterday the famous Mr. 
Jefferson . . . arrived. I have not been in company with him 
yet. He looks like a very sensible, spirited, fine Fellow, and by 
the pamphlet which he wrote last summer he certainly is one." 
(This letter is taken from a note to Ward's Diary as it is given in 
The Magazine of American History^ N, for 1877. All quotations 
from his Diary are taken from the same source, and so also the 
letter given in note 23, chapter HI.) 

^^ As we have seen, Georgia was unrepresented in the First 
Continental Congress. 

On July 20, 1775, however, as shown by the Journal, "a 
letter was . . . received from the Convention of Georgia & read 
setting forth that the Colony had assented to the general as- 
sociation [See p. 7] & appointed delegates to attend this Con- 
gress ". The election had taken place on July 7th, when Bullock, 

382 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Houston, Zubly, Noble Wimberly Jones and Lyman Hall were 
elected. 

The Journal for September 13th shows only that, " Georgia 
having appointed delegates three of the said delegates attending 
their credentials were produced read and approved . . /' We 
ascertain who the " three " were from John Adams' Diary, 
It says : " [J] Archibald Bullock and John Houston, Esquires, 
and the Rev. Dr. Zubly appear as delegates from Georgia." On 
the 15th, Richard Smith writes in his Diary: "Two of the 
Georgia Delegates are possessed of Homespun Suits of Cloaths, 
an Adornment ^qw other Members can boast of, besides my 
Bro! Crane and myself." (This and all other quotations from 
the Diary of Smith are taken from it as it is given in The American 
Historical Review^ N, I, 288. It is there stated that the original 
is in the possession of his great grandson, J. F. Coad of Char- 
lotte Hall, Md., — which Coad confirms, by a letter to us — and 
that " The manuscript shows, by various indications, that it 
was copied, at some time later, but not much later, than 
April, 1776, from daily notes which had been taken in Phila- 
delphia." The Diary itself, for December 15, 1775, says: 
"... for these Memoirs only contain what I could readily 
recollect." ) 

^^ We have not been able to ascertain when he first attended 
Congress. He was chosen upon a committee, September 23d. 
See p. 140. 

^2 The Convention, on August nth, voted their thanks to 
Pendleton and Henry, then present, and resolved that the 
" President be desired to transmit " their thanks by letter to 
Washington, for their services as Delegates. Washington had 
become Commander-in-Chief of the army and Henry Colonel 
of the First Regiment. Pendleton, " on account of the declin- 
ing state of his health, entreated to be excused from the present 
nomination . . ." 

383 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

The Convention then proceeded to ballot for Delegates ; and 
Randolph (89), R. H. Lee (88), Jefferson (85), Harrison (83) 
and Bland (61) were reelected, and Thomas Nelson, Jr., (66) 
and George Wythe (58) elected, for one year. 

On the next day. Bland thanked the Convention for his elec- 
tion, but declined, as he w^as " an old man, almost deprived of 
sight " ; and Francis Lightfoot Lee vt^as immediately elected 
in his place. 

John Adams, in his D'lary^ says : " [ J] Nelson is a fat man 
. . . He is a speaker, and alert and lively for his vt^eight." 
" [ J ] Wythe is a lawyer, it is said, of the first eminence." In 
September, he writes to his wife : " [Ad] Nelson, Wythe, and 
Lee are chosen, and are here in the stead of the other three 
[Henry, Pendleton and Bland]. Wythe and Lee are inoculated. 
You shall hear more about them. Although they come in the 
room of very good men, we have lost nothing by the change, I 
believe " ; and, on October 19th : " [Ad] Wythe is a new mem- 
ber from Virginia, a lawyer of the highest eminence in that 
province, a learned and very laborious man . . ." In his 
Autobiography^ under date of March 19, 1776, he tells us: 
" [ J ] Mr. Wythe was one of our best men . . ." He writes 
from Quincy to Richard Bland Lee, August 11, 1819: "[QyC] 
Francis Lightfoot Lee was a Man of great reading, well under- 
stood, of sound judgement and inflexible perseverance in the 
Cause of his attatchment to his Country [.] " 

^^ This extended from August 1st to September 5th. 

^* He was elected, August 23d — in the place of Sullivan, 
" now engaged with the Army ". He produced his credentials 
in Congress, September i6th. 

6^ On September 8th, " Mr. Caswell informed the [Provin- 
cial] Congress, as they had done him the honour of appointing 
him Treasurer of the Southern District of this Province, and one 
of the signers of the publick Bills of Credit, his attending those 

384 



NOTES TO TEXT 

duties would render it entirely out of his power to attend the 
Continental Congress ... he therefore requested this Congress 
would be pleased to appoint some other gentleman in his stead. 
Whereupon, it is Resolved, That John Penn, Esquire, be, and he 
is hereby appointed , . ." Penn appeared in Congress, October 
1 2th. 

^^ He was elected on the second Thursday of October. 

^^ The Journal shows that on January i6, 7/7^, " The Col- 
ony of Con : having appointed new Del & the same attending 
produced the credentials of their app* . . ." 

^8 See note 99, chapter IX. 

Titus Hosmer was the other alternate. He was first elected, 
November 3, 1774, and reelected on the second Thursday of 
October (1775). 

6^ He was elected, November 4th — Ross and Mifflin of the 
old delegation (See note 53, supra} being left out. Galloway 
(See note 44, chapter IX), on May 12th, had been "excused 
from serving as a deputy". (As to P^oss, see, however, p. 192.) 

The Journal shows that on the 6th (of November), "The 
Assembly of Pensylvania having appointed new Delegates the 
sd delegates produced their credentials . . ." 

''0 On December 9th, " The House [Convention] taking into 
consideration, that this Province, by means of the necessary 
attendance of some of its Deputies now in Convention, is at 
present unrepresented in Congress, directed the President to 
know of Mr. John Hall, whether it was convenient for him to 
attend in Congress ; and Mr. Hall having signified that it was 
very inconvenient to him at this time, and that it was his wis/i, 
that some other gentleman might be appointed in his stead, and 
it being represented that Mr. Robert Goldsborough, through long 
indisposition is at present unable to attend that service, it is, 
therefore, Resolved, That ... it is highly necessary that three 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Deputies from this Province do immediately attend in Congress 
. . . and that for this purpose, two gentlemen be now appointed, 
and added to the number of Deputies already chosen ; and Robert 
Alexander and John Rogers, Esq., were elected by ballot." 

The Journal shows that on December 2ist, "The Conven- 
tion of Maryland having added two new members to their dele- 
gates one of them attending produced the credentials of their 
appointment . . ." 

The Diary of Richard Smith shows us that Rogers attended 
for the first time, December 21, lyjSf ^^^ Alexander for the 
first time, January 2, 1776. 

''1 He was elected, December 15th, to fill the place of Ran- 
dolph, who, as shown by the Diary of Ward, for October 22d, 
"About eight at night . . . died, having been ill but a few 
hours." See p. 96. (Rush writes: " [Rid]M' Carter Brax- 
ton of Virginia speaking of New England in the Virginia Con- 
vention before the declaration of Independance said ' I abhor 
their manners — I abhor their laws — I abhor their goverments 
— I abhor their religion[.] ' " Also, see note 28, chapter IV.) 
On February 4, 1776, Nelson writes from Philadelphia to 
JefFerson : " [S] We expect Braxton every day & then I shall 
beat a march for a few Weeks." (The Diary of Richard Smith 
shows that Nelson was chosen upon a committee on February 
i/th.) Braxton took his seat, February 23d. He signed the 
Declaration on parchment now in the Department of State.. 

"2 The Diary of Ward says: "Mr. Randolph going to the 
Assembly, Mr. Middleton was chosen (President) ; declined on 
account of his ill state of Health, and Mr. Hancock was chosen." 
Allen, in J History of the American Revolution^ etc., says : " Mr. 
Hancock was certainly not the man upon whom the unbiassed 
voice of the Congress would have fallen. He had been early 
enlisted in the cause of the people, by the superiour discernment 
of Mr. Samuel Adams, who foresaw that his large fortune would 

386 



NOTES TO TEXT 

add respectability to the little band of patriots. His manners 
were agreeable, and his address prepossessing ; but he had neither 
talents nor solidity sufficient to direct any affair of importance." 

Gordon, in The History of the Rise^ Progress,, and Establishment 
of the Independence of the United States of America ,, speaks in gen- 
eral to the same effect : " When Mr. Hancock was first elected 
... it was expected that as soon as . . . [Randolph] repaired 
again to congress, the former would resign. Of this he was re- 
minded by one of his Massachusetts brethren [probably Samuel 
Adams] when Mr. Randolph got back, but the charms of presi- 
dency made him deaf to the private advise of his colleague, and 
no one could with propriety move for his removal that the other 
might be restored. In the early stage of his presidency he acted 
upon republican principles ; but afterward he inclined to the aris- 
tocracy of the New York delegates, connected himself with them, 
and became their favorite." 

"^^ Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society ,, XIV, 342, 
contain, however, an "abstract of papers prepared . . .by Mr. 
Sainsbury, from the originals in Her Majesty's Public Record 
Office, in London : — ' Nov. i. Gov. Franklin to Lord Dart- 
mouth ..." Many of that body [Congress] for an entire sepa- 
ration, and publicly avow sentiments of independence. Dr. 
Church apprehended by Washington as a spy in his camp." ' " 



CHAPTER III 

1 See p. 90. 

2 For a letter of the ist, see p. 71. 

3 For Reed's letter, see p. 96. 

* See p. 13 (and note 2, chapter II) and note 49, chapter V. 
Langdon writes to Bartlett from Portsmouth, February 26th : 
"[NE] Things are pretty much in the same Situation as they 

3S7 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

were, at my last writing you, — not one word about independence^ 
am ready to think he 's gone out of Town, and those gentlemen 
who kept him Company while in Town, seem rather ashamed of 
them Selves — " 

^ He was elected in the place of Gushing, who, John Adams 
(in his Autobiography) says, " [J] I believe declined." (See p. 51.) 
See p. 211 and note 93, chapter IX. Also, John Adams, in a 
letter to his wife dated July 29, 1776, says: "[Ad] Gerry . . . 
is an old bachelor, and what is worse, a politician, and is worse 
still, a kind of soldier . . ." He signed the Declaration on 
parchment now in the Department of State. 

^ See note 8, post. 

'^ See pp. 96 and 108. 

8 A letter of Adams, to " [Qy] My dearest Friend [his wife]", 
dated February 18, 1776, says: "I sent you from New York a 
Pamphlet entitled Common Sense . . . Reconciliation if practi- 
cable and Peace if attainable, you very well know would be as 
agreeable to my Inclinations and as advantageous to my Interest, 
as to any Man's — But I see no Prospect, no Probability, no 
Possibility. — " 

^ This portion would seem to refer to the period previous to 
Gerry's election : see p. 42 ; Gerry's letters, which follow ; and 
a letter of Adams, p. 211. 

^^ He was recalled to take charge of a regiment and left Phila- 
delphia for South Carolina on January 18, 1776, while Adams 
was absent and many months before the subject of declaring in- 
dependence came (directly) before Congress. 

^1 He was one of the commissioners to Canada, appointed, 
February 15th, and left Philadelphia in the latter part of March. 
He did not return to Philadelphia until the morning of June nth, 
after the postponement of the resolution respecting independence, 
and departed thence for Maryland soon after and did not return 
until July 1 7th. 

388 



NOTES TO TEXT 

^2 He left Congress evidently before the subject of declaring 
independence came (directly) before that body: see p. 128. 

12 Gerry writes, May ist : " I am glad you approve the pro- 
posal for instructions . . ." Warren was President of the House 
of Representatives. 

^* Compare its wording with that of the letter of Hopkins (See 
notes 23 and 113, post; but see note 53, chapter IV) of April 
8th, with that of the letter of Whipple of May 28th and with that 
of the letter of Bartlett of June 6th (See pp. 54, 132 and 132, 
respectively). (These three are the only letters we have found 
from Delegates in Congress to their respective Colonies written 
previous to the introduction of the initial resolution on June 7th 
asking for instructions as to how to vote upon the question of independ- 
ence.) Compare its wording also with that of the letter of R. H. 
Lee of April 20th and with that of the letter of Jefferson of May 
17th (See note 4, chapter IV, and note 27, chapter VI, respec- 
tively). See also New Tork,^ chapter VIII. 

^^ Cooper answers : " [W] The people here almost universally 
agree with you in your political sentiments." 

^^ It may have been these letters which brought forth Gerry*s 
letter of March 26th to Warren. 

17 Taken from The New England Historical and Genealogical 
Register (N), XIII, 232, where it is published as a communi- 
cation from J. Gardner White. 

1^ Also, see Samuel Adams' letter to Hawley, p. 46 ; Cooper's 
letter, note 15, supra; and Gerry's letter to Warren, note 13, 
supra. 

1^ For his answer, see note 4.1^ post, 

20 See p. 41. 

21 Boston, on May 23d, declared : " A reconciliation . . . 
appears to us to be as dangerous as it is absurd . . . The in- 
habitants of this town, therefore unanimously instruct . . . you, 
that, at the approaching session of the general assembly, you use 

389 



-DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

your endeavours that the delegates of this colony in Congress 
be advised, that in case the Congress shall think it necessary for 
the safety of the United Colonies, to declare them independ- 
ent . . . the inhabitants of this colony, with their lives, and the 
remnant of their fortunes, vnW most cheerfully support them in 
that measure. Placing, however, unbounded confidence in . . . 
Congress, we are determined to wait, most patiently to wait, till 
their wisdom shall dictate the necessity of making a Declaration 
of Independence . . ." 

The proceedings of Watertown and Walpole (May 20th), of 
New Salem (May 21st), of Maiden (May 27th), of Brunswick 
(May 31st), of Taunton (June 3d), of Scituate (June 4th), of 
Wrentham (June 5th), of Hanover (June 6th), of Stockbridge 
and of Pittsfield, and doubtless of others, can be found in Force's 
American Archives. Those of Worcester (May) can be found 
in Celebration by the hihabitants of Worcester^ Mass.^ of the Cen- 
tennial Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. They are 
similar in spirit and unanimous. 

^ In Force's American Archives can be found the proceedings 
of Alford and Norwich (June 7th), of Acton (June 14th), of 
Palmer, Bedford and Murrayfield (June 17th), of Leverett (June 
1 8th), of Gageborough (June 19th), of Natick (June 20th), of 
Topsfield and Southampton (June 21st), of Williamstown (June 
24th), of Northbridge (June 25th), of Tyringham (June 26th), 
of Sturb ridge (June 27th), of Fitchburgh, Ashly and Greenwich 
(July 1st), of Winchendon (July 4th) and of Eastham, and per- 
haps of others. 

"At a Town Meeting at Barnstable, June 25, 1776. The 
Question being put, agreable to the Resolve of the General 
Court, Whether if the Continental Congress should judge expe- 
dient to declare the United Colonies Independent, they the inhab- 
itants of the town of Barnstable would support the measure at the 
hazard of life and estate? — It passed in the Negative. Upon 

390 



NOTES TO TEXT 

which a number of. respectable inhabitants, whose names are 
under-written, judging such procedure would have a tendency to 
disunite the Colonies, and to injure the cause of their Country, 
did at said meeting publicly Protest against it, hoping thereby to 
avoid the imputation of acquiescence in so dishonorable a measure. 
Joseph Otis, Thomas Annable, Benjamin Smith, Zac's. How- 
land, Eben. Lothrop, Joseph Jenkins, Freeman Parker, Binna 
Baker, Nathan Bassett, Joseph Smith, David Smith, Job How- 
land, John Crocker, jun. James Davis, Nath. Howland." 
(Taken from The American Gazette: or^ Constitutional Journal^ 
Ex, of July 9, 1776.) 

23 Ward's physician. Young, writes, March 26th, to Henry 
Ward (See note 59, chapter U) : " One, at least, of the mighty 
advocates for American Independency is fallen in Mr. Ward, 
to the great grief of the proto-patriot Adams." 

Whipple writes, to Bartlett, March 28th: "[PD] I am just 
returning from attending the remains of our worthy Friend Gov: 
Ward to the place appointed for all the Humain race His 
better part took its flight to world of Spirits on Tuesday morn- 
ing, this loss will be felt by Congress, and no doubt greatly 
laimented by the Colony he so faithfully represented . . ." 

2* This letter seems to have been lost or taken from the files. 
It was written, it will be noted, over a month and a half before 
the similar letter of Whipple (See p. 132). See note 14, supra, 

2^ He must have arrived in Philadelphia, May 14th; for, on 
that day, the instructions were laid before Congress. John 
Adams calls him '•' [ J ] an excellent member " ; and Hopkins, 
in a letter to the Governor, dated May 15th, says : " I am very 
glad you have given me a colleague, and am well pleased with 
the gentleman you have appointed." Also, see note 8, chapter 
IX. Ellery signed the Declaration on parchment now in the 
Department of State. 

26 See p. 78. 

391 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^ Sergeant and Cooper were substituted for Kinsey and Crane, 
at the election held, February 14th. We have been unable to 
find any mention of Cooper's attendance upon Congress. The 
Diary of Richard Smith for February 20th says: "Mf Crane 
went Home and Ml; Sergeant attended in his Stead . . ." Both 
the Journal and this Diary show the appointment of William 
Livingston upon a committee on the same day. De Hart was 
appointed upon a committee on April ist. 

John Adams, in 1774, describes Sergeant as "[J] a young 
lawyer of Princeton . . . He is a young gentleman of about 
twenty-five, perhaps ; very sociable ..." 

28 See note 27, supra. William Livingston was still present 
on March i6th, as shown by the Journal and by the Diary of 
Richard Smith ; but, on the 28th, as shown by this Diary^ 
". . . our Militia are marching to N York or Staten IsP under 
their Brigadiers Dickenson and W? Livingston [.] " 

29 His Diary shows that, on March 31st, he "went Home to 
Burlington . . . having suffered in my Health by a close At- 
tendance on Congress ", having been there almost constantly 
since December 13, 1775. 

^ All attended : Livingston was chosen upon a committee on 
April 30th ; as to De Hart, see note 7, chapter V ; and as to 
Sergeant, see note 5, chapter V. 

31 By an endorsement, it appears that Adams answered on 
the 15th. 

32 The postscript is dated the 12th. 

33 By an endorsement, it appears that Adams answered on 
the 2 2d. (We know that Witherspoon was in Philadelphia on 
the 23d.) 

3* Also, see "An Address to the Natives of Scotland residing 
in America " in The Essex Journal and New-Hampshire Packet 
(C) of August 23, 1776. It appears as well in The Works of 
John Witherspoon, 

392 



NOTES TO TEXT 

35 Taken from The Works of John Witherspoon, 

36 See p. 47. 

37 Rodney writes, to Thomas Rodney, May ist: "[PS] No 
News Except . . . that this day is like to produce as warm if 
not the warmest Election that ever was held in this City — The 
terms for the parties are — Whigg & Tory — dependance & 
Independence — " 

In Extracts from the Diary of Christopher Marshall — a mem- 
ber of the Committee of Inspection and Observation of the 
City and Liberties of Philadelphia — , under date of April 21st, 
we find : " Many, I understand, were the private meetings of 
those called moderate men (or those who are for reconciliation 
with Great Britain upon the best terms she will give us, but by 
all means to be reconciled to or with her,) in order to consult 
and have such men carried for Burgesses at the Election (First 
of May) as will be sure to promote, to accept and adopt all such 
measures . . ." 

38 This and all other quotations from Marshall are taken from 
his Diary (See note 37, supra), 

39 See p. 105. 

*o See note 117, post^ and note 28, chapter VIII. 

*i Whipple writes. May 28th, to Meshech Weare : "[BT] It 
is probable the Proprietary Gov*f will be the last to agree to this 
necessary step [declaring independence] — the disaffected in them, 
are now exerting themselves but their exertions are no more 
than the last struggle of expiring faction." John Adams writes, 
May 29th, to Benjamin Hichborn : "[J] The middle colonies 
have never tasted the bitter cup ; they have never smarted, and 
are therefore a little cooler ; but you will see that the colonies 
are united indissolubly. Maryland has passed a few eccentric 
resolves, but these are only flashes which will soon expire. The 
proprietary governments are not only encumbered with a large 
body of Quakers, but are embarrassed by a proprietary interest \ 

393 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE^ 

both together clog their operations a little, but these clogs are 
falling off, as you will soon see." (For the letter to which this 
is a reply, see p. 52.) 

42 For another portion of this letter, see p. 106. 

*^ See note 37, supra. 

4* See p. 17. 

4^ This was dated the 20th, the day of the meeting, and was 
signed by Daniel Roberdeau, as chairman. 

*^ There was no quorum on the 20th j and, on the 21st also, 
though a quorum, nothing was done. 

*'' See note 49, post^ and p. 65. 

*^ See note 49, post. 

4^ Marshall says : " Past ten, went to meet Committee at 
Philosophical Hall, called by notices. Here was an Address to 
Congress concluded on, in answer to the Remonstrance that was, 
or is intended to be, sent from the Assembly, to counteract our 
proceedings last Second Day at the State House. This was to 
be delivered as soon as their Remonstrance was read in Congress. 
This paper or Remonstrance of their's was carried by numbers, 
two by two^ into almost all parts of the town to be signed by all 
(tag, longtail and bob), and also sent into the country, and much 
promoted by the Quakers." 

^^ On the 24th, an essay reported by the committee was re- 
ferred to further consideration; and, on the 25th, nothing was 
done. 

^^ The 26th was Sunday; and, on the 27th, there was no 
quorum. 

^2 A copy was ordered, following its reading in Congress 
on the 25th, for Robert Morris, for presentation to the 
Assembly. 

^2 It had appeared in The Pennsylvania Evening Post (T) of 
May 28th. 

5 ^ On this day, R. H. Lee introduced his resolution (See p. 109) 

394 



NOTES TO TEXT 

into Congress. Dickinson and Robert Morris were doubtless 
present, or certainly, at least, knew of it. 

^ For the continuation of the subject, see p. 187. 

^^ Also, see p. 100. 

5' See note 20, chapter V. See also perhaps note 39, chapter V. 

^8 Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, James Tilghman and William 
Hayward seem to have been present. 

^9 Evidently those of January nth, given in the text. 

60 Dickinson. 

61 For another portion of this letter, see note 20, chapter V. 

62 See p. 96. 

63 This was published, in Baltimore, by M. K. Goddard (See 
note I, chapter XIII). 

6^ Also, see note 38, chapter V. 

65 Adams, as we have seen, was absent from Philadelphia 
from December 9, 1775, to February 9, 1776. This conversa- 
tion must in reality, therefore, have been later. 

66 To the same effect, see Penn's letter of April 17th, p. 83. 
6" A letter of the 13th, from Thomas Ludwell Lee, is given 

in note 103, chapter IX. 

68 On the same day, R. H. Lee wrote Henry : see note 4, 
chapter IV. 

69 These instructions were signed by a majority of the free- 
holders living in the County. 

^^ One was Robert Carter Nicholas. See p. 72 and note 81, 
post. 

71 Bancroft gives summaries of the instructions of Augusta 
County and of the inhabitants on the rivers Watanga and Holsten, 
also without date. 

^2 See note 4, chapter IV, note 27, chapter VI, ibid, and 
p. 93, respectively. 

''3 Taken from The Virginia Gazette (C) of May lOth. 

^* A picture (?) may be found in "The Birth of the American 

395 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Republic, Ninety-nine Years ago " by Nellie Hess Morris, 
Potter's American Monthly^ N, for July, 1875. 

'^ See note 71, chapter II. 

^^ General Charles Lee was more hopeful — or, rather perhaps, 
less well informed. He writes, to Washington, on the loth: 
" A noble spirit possesses the Convention. They are almost 
unanimous for independence, but differ in their sentiments about 
the mode ; two days will decide it." (For his letter of the 
same day to R. H, Lee, see note 4, chapter IV. Also, see note 
77, />../.) 

^'^ Unfortunately, we have no expression, so far as we know, 
by Henry himself of his views at this time. 

General Charles Lee writes to him, however, May yth : " [Q] 
Since our conversation yesterday [the day the Convention met], 
my thoughts have been solely employed on the great question 
whether Independence ought or ought not to be immediately 
declared. Having weighed the argument on both sides, I am 
clearly of the opinion that we must, as we value the liberties 
of America, or even her existence, without a moment's delay 
declare for Independence. If my reasons appear weak, you will 
excuse them for the disinterestedness of the author, as I may 
venture to affirm, that no man on this Continent will sacrifice 
more than myself by the separation . . . The objection you 
made yesterday, if I understood you rightly, to an immediate 
Declaration, was, by many degrees, the most specious ; indeed, 
it is the only tolerable one I have yet heard. You say, and 
with great justice, that we ought previously to have felt the 
pulse of France and Spain. I more than believe, I am almost 
confident, that it has been done . . . But admitting that we 
are utter strangers to their sentiments on the subject and that 
we run some risk of this Declaration being coldly received 
by these Powers, such is our situation that the risk must 
be ventured . . . Your idea, that they [the French] may be 

396 



NOTES TO TEXT 

diverted ... by an offer of partition by Great Britain, appears 
to me, if you will excuse the phrase, an absolute chimera . . . 
But there is another consideration still more cogent, I can 
assure you that the spirit of the people cries out for this Declara- 
tion ; the military, in particular ... I most devoutly pray, 
that you may not merely recommend, but positively lay injunc- 
tions, on your servants in Congress to embrace a measure so 
necessary to our salvation." 

Also, see p. 182. 

(See, however, note 79, post.) 

Five days after the adoption of the resolution (See p. 78) by 
the Convention, he (Henry) writes — to R. H. Lee: "[Q] 
Your sentiments [See note 4, chapter IV] as to the necessary 
progress of this great affair correspond with mine. For may 
not France ... be allured by the partition you mention ? To 
anticipate therefore the efforts of the enemy by sending instantly 
American Ambassadors to France, seems to me absolutely neces- 
sary , . . But is not a confederacy of our states previously 
necessary ? " 

Similar views are found in a letter from him of the same date 
(May 20th) to John Adams: " [Qy] I put up with it [the resolu- 
tion] in the present Form, for the sake of Unanimity. 'Tis not 
quite so pointed as I could wish . . . The Confederacy. That 
must precede an open Declara? of Independency & foreign 
Alliances." 

^^ In this connection, see p. 182. (See also note 37, chapter 
IX.) 

^^ William Wirt Henry — in Patrick Henry ^ etc., (1891) 
— says that "Among the papers of the Convention remaining 
in the Capitol are found three endorsed by the clerk, ' Rough 
Resolutions. Independence.' " 

The first of these, he says, is in the handwriting of Henry 
and reads as follows : 

397 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

As the humble petitions of the continental Congress have been rejected 
and treated with contempt ; as the parliament of G. B. so far from 
showing any disposition to redress our grievances, have lately passed an 
act approving of the ravages that have been committed upon our coasts, 
and obliging the unhappy men who shall be made captives to bear arms 
against their families, kindred, friends, and country ; and after being 
plundered themselves, to become accomplices in plundering their brethren, 
a compulsion not practiced on prisoners of war except among pirates, 
the outlaws and enemies of human society. As they are not only making 
their preparation to crush us, which the internal strength of the nation 
and their alliance with foreign powers afford them, but are using their 
art to draw the savage Indians upon our frontiers, and are even encourag- 
ing insurrection among our slaves, many of whom are now actually in 
arms against us. And as the King of G. B. by a long series of oppress- 
ive acts has proven himself a tyrant instead of a protector of his people. 
We, the representatives of the colony of Virginia do declare, that we 
hold ourselves absolved of all allegiance to the crown of G. B. and 
obliged by the eternal laws of self-preservation to pursue such measures 
as may conduce to the good and happiness of the united colonies ; and 
as a full declaration of Independency appears to us to be the only honorable 
means under Heaven of obtaining that happiness, and restoring us again 
to a tranquil and prosperous situation ; 

Resolved, That our delegates in Congress be enjoined in the strongest 
and most positive manner to exert their abihty in procuring an immediate, 
clear, and full Declaration of Independency. 

The second, he says, is in the handwriting of Meriwether 
Smith and reads : 

Whereas Lord Dunmore hath assumed a power of suspending by 
proclamation the laws of this colony, which is supported by a late act of 
the British Parhament, declaring the colonies in North America to be 
in actual rebellion and out of the King's protection, confiscating our 
property wherever found on the water, legalizing their seizure, robbery 
and rapine, that their people have heretofore committed on us. 

Resolved, That the government of this Colony as hitherto exercised 
under the crown of Great Britain be dissolved, and that a committee be 
appointed to prepare a Declaration of Rights, and such a Plan of Govern- 

398 



NOTES TO TEXT 

ment, as shall be judged most proper to maintain Peace and Order In 
this colony, and secure substantial and equal liberty to the people. 

The third, he says, is believed to be in the handwriting of 
Pendleton and declares : 

Whereas the Parliament of Great Britain have usurped unlimited 
authority to bind the inhabitants of the American Colonies in all cases 
whatsoever, and the British Ministry have attempted to execute their 
many tyrannical acts in the most inhuman and cruel manner, and King 
George the third having withdrawn his protection from the said Colonies, 
joindy with the Ministry and Parliament, has begun and is now pursuing 
with the utmost violence a barbarous war against the said colonies, in 
violation of the civil and religious rights of the said colonies. 

Resolved, that the union that hath hitherto subsisted between Great 
Britain and the American colonies is thereby totally dissolved, and that 
the inhabitants of this colony are discharged from any allegiance to the 
crown of Great Britain. 

It would seem — in view of the letter of Thomas Ludwell 
Lee to R. H. Lee of May i8th (See note ^6^ post) — doubtful, 
however, whether the last is in Pendleton's handwriting. 

Indeed, William Wirt Henry himself writes us, November 
26, 1900, but nine days before his death: "I concluded on 
examining the papers that the first resolution on Independence 
in the Convention of '76 was that offered by General Nelson 
& in an enlarged hand which I concluded was that of Patrick 
Henry — I recognized the handwriting of M"" Smith — in 
another set of resolutions. The third set I was not certain of 
the handwriting. If offered by Pendleton, they doubtless were 
offered the first day. The next day, he brought in another set, 
made up of different parts of the resolutions discussed the first 
day — which were adopted. These rough resolutions are with 
the papers of the Convention of '76 in the State Library here 
in Richmond, Va." 

^^ Compared with the original MS. by Moncure Daniel Con- 

399 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

way, in whose possession it then was. He writes us (in 1901) : 
" There is nothing preceding the first sentence relating to it. 
Up to that point the history had been dealing with the whole 
country, but here returns to Virginia. There are no dates." 

^^ It so appears in the Journal of the Convention as given by 
Force in American Archives and in the reports in the newspapers 
of the day. Also, see note 86, post, 

Edmund Randolph, however, writes (See note 80, supra) : 
" The vote was unanimous for independence, except in the 
instance of Robert Carter Nicholas, who demonstrated his title 
to popularity by despising it when it demanded [See p. 74] a 
sacrifice of his judgment. He offered himself as a victim to 
conscience being dubious of the competency of America in so 
arduous a contest. He alone had fortitude enough to yield 
to his fears on this awful occasion, although there was reason 
to believe that he was not singular in their conception. But 
immediately after he had absolved his obligation of duty, he 
declared that he would rise or fall with his country, and proposed 
a plan for drawing forth all its energies in support of that very 
independence." 

^ See pp. 57, 66 and 123; note 43, chapter V; and pp. 132 
and 183. 

The resolution appeared in The Pennsylvania Evening Post (N 
and T) of May 28th — immediately following that of April 12th 
of North Carolina ; in Dunlap's Pennsylvania Packet or the General 
Advertiser (N) of June 3d ; in The Boston-Ga%ette^ and Country 
"Journal (C) — published in Watertown, Mass. — of June 24th ; 
and in The American Gazette^ etc., (Ex) — published in Salem, 
Mass. — of July 2d. 

^ Taken from The Connecticut Gazette^ etc., (N) of June 7th. 
See also The Virginia Gazette (C) of May 1 8th ; The Pennsylvania 
Evening Post (N) of May 28th; Dunlap's^ etc., (N) of June 3di 
and The American Gazette^ etc., (Ex) of July 2d. 

400 



NOTES TO TEXT 

3* Also, see note 86, post. 

^ On the 1 8th, Thomas Ludwell Lee writes (See note 103, 
chapter IX), to R. H. Lee : " Col. Nelson is on his way to 
Congress " ; and, on the 20th, Henry, to John Adams : " [Qy] 
Before this reaches you [It was received, June 3d] the Resolu- 
tion for finally separating from Britain will be handed to Con- 
gress by Coif Nelson." 

s 

Strangely enough, however, there is in existence the following : 

[N] D"^ The Commonwealth of Virginia in Account with Thomas 
Nelson jr. . , . 

1776 

To Attendance [in Congress] from 9*^ June 76 

till Aug: 11^'' 62 -days . . . 

To do from Aug: 11^^ Till Sep' 21'^ 41 Days . . . 

This is endorsed, however : " Thomas Nelson ^169 . . 15 . . 6 
Jan. 15^!" 1779 Deleg? Congress Commonwealth of Virginia". 

n 

On September i8th, Nelson writes (from Philadelphia) to 
Page : " [N] I am almost overdone with such constant attend- 
ance upon the business of Congress . . ." 

^^ R. H. Lee was notified direct by Thomas Ludwell Lee and 
hy John Augustine Washington (Also, see Henry's letter, note 
77, supra). Both letters were dated the i8th. The former said: 
" [M^] Enclosed you have some printed resolves which passed 
our Convention to the infinite joy of the people here. The 
preamble is not to be admired in point of composition, nor has 
the resolve of Independency that peremptory and decided air 
which I could wish . . . However, such as they are, the ex- 
ultation was extreme. The British Flag was immediately struck 
on the Capitol, and a Continental hoisted in its room. The 
36 401 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

troops were drawn out, and we had a discharge of Artillery and 
small arms. You have also a set of resolves offered by Col. M. 
Smith, but the first, which were proposed the second day by the 
President, — for the debate lasted two days, — were preferred. 
These he had formed from the resolves and preambles of the 
first day badly put together." The latter wrote : " [M^] I . . . 
enclose you ... an instruction to our Delegates ... It is not 
so full as some would have wished it, but I hope may answer 
the purpose. What gave me pleasure was, that the resolve was 
made by a very full house and without a dissenting voice." 

John Adams too was notified direct, by Richard {not Richard 
Henry) Lee by letter of the i8th and by Henry by letter of the 
20th. The letter of the former is almost identical in language 
with that of Thomas Ludwell Lee to R. H. Lee. For the 
letter of the latter, see note 77, supra. 

% 

See between pp. 80 and 81. 

^^ See note 12^^ post. 

^^ As seen by the letter of the 20th, he refers to Common Sense, 

^^ He had not returned, March ist : see note 38, chapter IX ; 
but " Hooper just returned from Boston says . . ." appears in 
the Diary of Richard Smith for March 6th. 

^^ Penn was chosen upon a committee in Congress on 
March 22d. (See note 91, post.) Hooper certainly had left 
Philadelphia by the 26th : see note 93, post. They probably set 
out together; though see notes 91 and 92, post. As to their 
respective returns to Philadelphia, see note 51, chapter IX. 

^^ John Adams writes from Philadelphia on the 28th : 
" [QyCjThis Morning I had the Pleasure of receiving yours 
of April 17^,^ . . . My respectfuU Compliments to my Country- 
man M"" Hooper — " 

^ The committee who drafted these instructions were Corne- 
lius Harnett, Allen Jones, Thomas Burke, Abner Nash, John 

402 



NOTES TO TEXT^ 

Kinchin, Thomas Person and Thomas Jones. Samuel Johnston 
also was doubtless present when they were adopted. 

^2 Hewes had remained in Philadelphia. (On March 26th, 
he writes to James Iredell: "[I] As I imagine you will be at 
Halifax, and will there see my friend Hooper, who will be able 
to give you all the news and politics, I shall not trouble you with 
anything in that way ; as to myself, I am ashamed to be always 
complaining, yet I must say I think myself declining fast; such 
close attention to business every day in Congress till three, four 
and sometimes five o'clock, and on committee almost every even- 
ing, and frequently in the morning before Congress meets, is too 
much for my constitution — however, my country is entitled to 
my services, and I shall not shrink from her cause, even though 
it should cost me my life." On May 17th, he writes, to the 
same friend : " [Tr] ... an obstinate Ague & Fever or rather 
an intermitting Fever persecutes me continually, I have no way 
to remove it unless I retire from Congress and from public busi- 
ness this I am determined not to do till N? Carolina sends a 
further delegation provided I am able to crawl to the Congress 
Chamber . . ." For portions of a letter of July 8th, see notes 
51 and 12, chapters IX and XI, respectively. Indeed, a letter 
dated as early as July 8, 1775, to Iredell, also speaks very strongly 
of "[I] bad health, and a weakness in my eyes . . .") 

^* William Henry Drayton was President. John Rutledge, 
Henry Middleton, Thomas Lynch, Jr., C. C. Pinckney and 
Henry Laurens (See note 125, chapter XI) also seem to have 
been present, and perhaps Gadsden; and it is almost certain that 
Arthur Middleton and Heyward had not yet left (See note 37, 
chapter IX) for Philadelphia. 

^^ See note 94, supra. Edward Rutledge and Thomas 
Lynch, Sr., remained in Philadelphia. 

^^ This seems even certain from the language of the instruc- 
tions — giving " any one of the said Delegates " the power to 

403 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

represent the Colony — and from the fact that they were passed 
on the very day of (and following) the receipt of a letter of the 
1st from Edward Rutledge. The contents of this letter, it is true, 
are not given by Force in the proceedings of the Provincial Con- 
gress, and we do not know them; but Edward Rutledge and the 
elder Lynch only (See note 94, supra') were then in Philadelphia, 
and we feel sure that it announced the sudden and serious illness 
of Lynch, for (Also, see note 38, chapter IX) Laurens writes, 
from Charleston, March 24th : " [Cs] We have lost one of the 
best friends to this Country & one of the ablest politicians in 
America by a stroke of apoplexy on the elder M"" Lynch in Phila- 
delphia — he had been twelve days languishing when the Mes- 
senger came away on the 3*^ March wholly deprived of speech & 
understanding — his Son goes to morrow to see and also to suc- 
ceed him as a delegate — for if he survives he must change his 
habits & Air — the Messenger brought a private Letter from a 
Doctor Swindt . . . the Letter was dated day after that from 
M"" E. Rutledge . . ." (For another portion of this letter, see 
note 125, chapter XL) 

^"^ John Rutledge was chosen President, Laurens Vice-Presi- 
dent and Drayton Chief Justice. 

^^ See Memoirs of the American Revolution^ etc., (1821). 

^^ This seems strange in view of note 37, chapter IX. One 
might say, however, that he was converted by Common Sense ; but 
see p. 12. Indeed, see p. 54. 

1^ At the election held (in Savannah), February 2d, Bullock, 
Houston and Hall were reelected and Button Gwinnett and 
George Walton elected in place of Zubly and Jones. 

The Provincial Congress resolved "That it be recommended 
that three of the Delegates do proceed, with all possible despatch, 
to Philadelphia " ; but it was May 20th before, as the Journal 
tells us, " Lyman Hall & Button Gwinnett Esquires Two of the 
delegates from Georgia attended and produced the credentials 

404 



NOTES TO TEXT 

of their appointment", and it was probably June 29th before 
Walton arrived. We know the latter from the facts that The 
Pennsylvania "Journal; and the Weekly Advertiser (C) of June 
26th, as a communication from Williamsburg, Va., dated the 
15th, says: "This day arrived in town from Georgia, on his 
way to the General Congress, GEORGE WALTON " ; that 
there is in the collection of Theodore Bailey Myers now in the 
New York Public Library (Lenox) a receipt signed by Walton 
dated Williamsburg, June 17th; that Bullock writes to John 
Adams, from Savannah, Ga., May ist : " [Qy] As a Multiplic- 
ity of public Business prevents my revisiting Philadelphia, I have 
embraced an Opportunity by Major Walton of enquiring after 
your Welfare ; and as he is capable of giving you the amplest 
Account of the State of this Province, I wou'd take the Liberty 
of introducing him to your Notice and Acquaintance. — " and 
superscribes his letter: "Fav? by the Hon— Major Walton"; and 
that, in answering this letter, July ist, Adams says : "[J] Two 
days ago 1 received your favor of May ist . . ." 

Hall, Gwinnett and Walton, therefore, and possibly (See note 
37, chapter IX) Bullock and Houston were present in the 
Provincial Congress when (April 5th) the instructions were 
passed. 

Hall, Gwinnett and Walton signed the Declaration on parch- 
ment now in the Department of State. John Adams, in his 
Autobiography^ speaks of Hall and Gwinnett as " [J] intelligent 
and spirited men, who made a powerful addition to our phalanx." 
See p. 162. 

1^- A letter of March 19, 1776, from Adams, to his wife — 
written before he knew who was the author of Common Sense — 
says : "[J] You ask [See note 8, supra'] what is thought of 
' Common Sense.' Sensible men think there are some whims, 
some sophisms, some artful addresses to superstitious notions, 
some keen attempts upon the passions, in this pamphlet. But 

405 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

all agree there is a great deal of good sense delivered in clear, 
simple, concise, and nervous style. His sentiments of the 
abilities of America, and of the difficulty of a reconciliation with 
Great Britain, are generally approved. But his notions and plans 
of continental government are not much applauded. Indeed, 
this writer has a better hand in pulling down than building. It 
has been very generally propagated through the continent that 
I wrote this pamphlet. But although I could not have written 
any thing in so manly and striking a style, I flatter myself I 
should have made a more respectable figure as an architect, if 
I had undertaken such a work." 

Another letter^ also to his wife, dated April 28th, says : " [Ad] 
The writer of ' Common Sense ' and ' The Forester ' is the same 
person ... a man w^ho, General Lee says, has genius in his 
eyes." 

Also, see pp. 23 and 35. 

Rush's Diary says: " [BT] Died at New York June 8^!^ 
Thursday 1809, Thomas Paine — author of common sense . . , 
I knew him well soon after his arrival in America in 1773 [James 
Cheetham — See post — says he did not sail until September, IJJ^] 
at which time he was unfriendly to the claims of America. He 
wrote his common sense at my request. I gave it its name. 
He possessed a wonderful talent of writing to the tempers and 
feelings of the public. His compositions tho' full of splendid & 
original imagery were always adapted to common capacities." 

Under date of the 17th of the same month and year, he writes 
to Cheetham (See The Life of Thomas Paine^ etc.) : " When the 
subject of American Independence began to be agitated in con- 
versation, I observed the publick mind to be loaded with an 
immense mass of prejudice and error relative to it. Something 
appeared to be wanting, to remove them, beyond the ordinary 

406 



m 



NOTES TO TEXT 

short and cold addresses of newspaper publications. At this time 
I called upon Mr. Paine and suggested to him the propriety of 
preparing our citizens for a perpetual separation of our country 
from Great Britain, by means of a work of such length as would 
obviate all the objections to it. He seized the idea with avidity, 
and immediately began his famous pamphlet in favour of the 
measure. He read the sheets to me at my house as he composed 
them. When he had finished them, I advised him to put them 
into the hands of Dr. Franklin, Samuel Adams, and the late 
Judge Wilson, assuring him, at the same time, that they all held 
the same opinions that he had defended. The first of those 
gentlemen saw the manuscript, and I believe the second, but 
Judge Wilson being from home when Mr. Paine called upon 
him, it was not subjected to his inspection. No addition was 
made to it by Dr. Franklin, but a passage was struck out, or 
omitted in printing it, which I conceived to be one of the most 
striking in it. It was the following — ' A greater absurdity can- 
not be conceived of, than three millions of people running to 
their sea coast every time a ship arrives from London, to know 
what portion of liberty they should enjoy.' A title only was 
wanted for this pamphlet before it was committed to the press. 
Mr. Paine proposed to call it ' plain truth.' I objected to it and 
suggested the title of ' Common Sense.' This was instantly 
adopted, and nothing now remained, but to find a printer who 
had boldness enough to publish it. At that time there was a 
certain Robert Bell, an intelligent Scotch bookseller and printer 
in Philadelphia, whom I knew to be as high toned as Mr. Paine 
upon the subject of American Independence. I mentioned the 
pamphlet to him, and he at once consented to run the risk of 
publishing it. The author and the printer were immediately 
brought together, and ' Common Sense ' bursted from the press 
of the latter in a few days with an effect which has rarely been 
produced by types and paper in any age or country." 

407 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

102 Xhis may be, and very likely is, true ; but we must not 
forget that the people at large knew nothing of these debates. 

103 See note 2, chapter II ; pp. 40, 47, 49, 50, 70, 71, 72, 73, 
81, 82, 83, 88 and 89; note loi, supra; Bullock^ note 37, 
chapter IX ; Wisner^ note 39, ibid, ; note 97, ibid. ; The Rise of 
the Republic of the United States by Richard Frothingham ; and 
The Life of Thomas Paine^ etc., by Moncure Daniel Conway. 

Also, we know that Caesar Rodney purchased a copy of the 
2d edition, in Philadelphia, February 20th. 

if 

Wolcott writes, from Philadelphia to Samuel Lyman, Febru- 
ary 3d : " [PS] I am well and have been so since I left Home — 
common Sence Operates pritty well, but all Men have not com- 
mon Sence — " 

Franklin, in introducing Paine to General Charles Lee, by 
letter of February 19th, says : " [X] He is reputed, and, I think, 
the real author of ' Common Sense,' a pamphlet that has made 
great impression here." 

104 This may perhaps be true ; but it cannot be doubted that 
the action of Congress was at least hastened by the change of 
feeling among the people at large and that this change was at least 
hastened by Common Sense, 

% 
Francis Lightfoot Lee writes from Philadelphia to Landon 
Carter, May 21st : " [Tr] I have received your very acceptable 
Letter of the 30 Ap! . . . This [Pennsylvania] & the adjoining 
Colonies are coming fast into Independency & constituting new 
Governm^® convinced of the necessity of it, both for the security 
of internal peace & good order; and for the vigorous exertion 
of their whole force against the common Enemy. I agree with 
you that the arbitrary & cruel proceedings of the British Court 
and the selfish indolence of the people of England, has made 

40S 



NOTES TO TEXT 

more independents, than Common sense for however plausible in 
theory the prospect of wealth and grandeur; old habits and pre- 
judices; and fears, of what we know not, will ever be great 
obstructions to changes in Governm! — tyranny & oppression often 
effect it ... I beg my aff ^ com^? may be accepted at Sabine Hall 
M? Lee joins in the request[.] " 

^^^ Also, see note 32, chapter IV. 

106 Franklin, in a letter to Josiah Quincy, written at Saratoga, 
April 15th, when on his way to Canada, says: "[X] The 
novelty of the thing [the establishment of a central government 
and the forming of alliances, etc.] deters some ; the doubt of 
success, others ; the vain hope of reconciliation, many. But our 
enemies take continually every proper measure to remove these 
obstacles . . , so that there is a rapid increase of the formerly 
small party, who were for an independent government . . . 
I thought, when I sat down, to have written by this opportunity 
to Dr. Cooper, Mr. Bowdoin, and Dr. Winthrop, but I am in- 
terrupted. Be so good as to present my affectionate respects 
to them . . ." Also, see p. 78 ; note 4, chapter IV ; and pp. 
114, 175 and 235. See also note 125, chapter XI. 

^^'' This and the following quotations are taken from a copy 
of the letter furnished to us by Z. T. Hollingsworth of Boston, 
who has the original. 

A letter of Carter, to Washington of May 9th, has already 
been given (See p. 75). 

1^^ See p. 46 ; note 12^^ post ; and note 97, chapter IX. See 
also a letter of John Adams to his wife of April 15, 1775, in 
Familiar Letters of 'John Adams and his Wife Abigail Adams^ 
during the Revolution by Charles Francis Adams. 

^^^ For a later letter, see p. 226., 

110 For a later letter, see p. 227. 

111 See p. 69. 

112 As- we have seen, he was not renominated, August 11, 

409 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

"^115 — "^^ ^'^ ^^" request; and, of course, therefore, he did not 
serve thereafter. 

113 Edward Tilghman, a nephew of Matthew Tllghman, how- 
ever, writes, to his father, February 4th : " [E] There is reason to 
believe that the disposition of Congress (a majority) are in favor 
of reconciliation and abhorrent from independency. The division 
is this : Rhode Island frequently loses a vote, having only two 
members, and they differing ; New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, and the Ancient Dominion hang very much to- 
gether. They are what we call violent, and suspected of inde- 
pendency. All the others breathe reconciliation, except that the 
Lower Counties are sometimes divided by the absence of Rodney 
or Read. Colonel McKean is a true Presbyterian, and joins the 
violents. The minority are indefatigable, try all schemes in all 
shapes, act in concert, and thereby have a considerable advantage 
over the others, who are by no means so closely united. Some 
time since, Judas Iscariot made a motion, of whose contents I 
am not quite certain, but it tended toward a closer confederacy^ and 
was of such a nature that whole Colonies threatened to leave 
the Congress." Also, see note 114, post, 

11* The latter part of this extract from the Autobiography evi- 
dently applies to a later period than the date under which it is 
written; for (Also, see note 113, supra) a letter of Adams of 
April 15th — although due, perhaps, somewhat to ill health or 
absence from his family or both — would seem to indicate the 
existence of a far less hopeful state of facts at the time. It says : 
"I have been very busy for some time ... I shall get nothing 
by it, I believe, because I never get anything by anything that 
I do. I am sure the publick or posterity ought to get some- 
thing. I believe my children will think I might as well have 
thought and laboured a little, night and day, for their benefit. 
But I will not bear the reproaches of my children. I will tell 
them, that I studied and laboured to procure a free Constitution 

410 



NOTES TO TEXT 

of Government for them to solace themselves under, and if they 
do not prefer this to ample fortune, to ease, and elegance, they 
are not my children, and I care not what becomes of them." 

1^^ This statement, etc., may be found also in a letter of 
John Adams (to Chase) dated Philadelphia, June 14(17 ?), 1776. 

The resolution of Maryland is in The Pennsylvania Evening 
Post (N) of May 30th. 

11^ Samuel Adams' opinions of the condition of affairs on April 
1 6th and on April 30th are to be found at pp. 46 and 47, 
respectively. 

# 

The New-England Chronicle (MsS) of August 2d contains the 
following : " [The following paragraphs were taken from a Hali- 
fax Paper of the 2d of July.] . . . May 3. The Congress have 
determined to declare AMERICA an independent state . . ." 

^17 A letter from Hopkins of the 15th may be found at 
p. 56. 

Wolcott writes to Samuel Lyman on the i6th: " [PE] The 
news is Inclosd — a Revolution in Government, you will per- 
ceive is about to take effect — " 

R. R. Livingston writes to Jay on the 17th: " [Z] Mr. 
Duane tells me he has enclosed [See note 119, />w/] you a copy 
of the resolutions [See p. 105] of the 15th. I make no observa- 
tions on it in this place for fear of accidents. It has occasioned 
a great alarm here, & the cautious folks are very fearful of its 
being attended with many ill consequences next week when the 
Assembly [of Pennsylvania] are to meet ; some points of the 
last importance are to be agitated (as we imagine), very early 
. . . send some of our delegates along as the province will other- 
wise be often unrepresented, since I find it inconsistent with my 
health to be close in my attendance in Congress. You have by 
this time sounded our people, I hope they are satisfied of the 

411 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

necessity of assuming a new form of Government [for New 
York] ..." 

Franklin writes (from New York City, on his way back from 
Montreal to Philadelphia) to Chase and Charles Carroll of Car- 
rollton on the 27th: "[N] The Congress have advis'd the erect- 
ing new Governments, which has occasioned some Dissention at 
Philadt but I hope it will soon be compos'd ... I find I grow 
daily more feeble . . ." 

11^ Jefferson writes to Page from Philadelphia, May 17th: 
" [N] Having arrived here but lately [the 14th] I have little to 
communicate. I have been so long out of the political world 
that I am almost a new man in it." (He seems to have been in 
Philadelphia at least as late as December 10, 1775, and to have 
left before the New Year.) Ellery attended for the first time 
on the same day (the 14th). Franklin, Chase, Johnson, Golds- 
borough, Paca, Bartlett, R. R. Livingston, Jay, Alsop, Francis 
Lewis, Hall, Hooper and Penn (and, of course, John Rutledge, 
Schuyler, Langdon, Houston and Bullock) were absent and Wal- 
ton and Gwinnett had not yet arrived, we know^ on the 15th. 

119 Duane writes from Philadelphia to Jay on the i6th : " [Z] 
. . . the resolution itself first passed and then a Committee was 
appointed to fit it with a preamble. Compare them with each 
other and it will probably lead you into Reflections which I dare 
not point out." 

12^ We have already given another portion of this letter at 
p. 62. 

121 During the discussions, as shown by John Adams* debates^ 
" [J] -^^^ Duane . . . [moved] that the delegation from New 
York might be read. When we were invited by Massachusetts 
Bay to the first Congress, an objection was made to binding 
ourselves by votes of Congress. Congress ought not to deter- 
mine a point of this sort about instituting government. What 
is it to Congress bow justice is administered ? You have no 

412 



NOTES TO TEXT 

right to pass the resolution, any more than Parliament has. 
How does it appear that no favorable answer is likely to be 
given to our petitions ? Every account of foreign aid is accom- 
panied with an account of commissioners. Why all this haste ? 
why this urging ? why this driving ? Disputes about independ- 
ence are in all the Colonies. What is this owing to but our 
indiscretion ? I shall take the liberty of informing my constit- 
uents that I have not been guilty of a breach of trust. I do pro- 
test against this piece of mechanism, this preamble. If the facts 
in this preamble should prove to be true, there will not be one 
voice against independence. I suppose the votes have been num- 
bered, and there is to be a majority." Also, see note 119, supra. 

^^ In France, the resolution was not credited with more than 
its face value; for Silas Deane writes from Paris: "[It] ... is 
not considered by the Ministry as a Declaration of Independence, 
but only a previous step, and until this decisive step is taken, I 
can do little more to any purpose ... I must therefore urge 
this measure, if not already taken, and that the Declaration be in 
the most full and explicit terms." 

123 \yg have already given another portion of this letter at 
p. no. 

^^ Whipple and Bartlett had similar views : see note 41, supra^ 
and p. 132. 

125 Washington, who remained (See p. 80) in Philadelphia 
until the morning of June 5th, writes, however, as late as May 
31st, to his brother, John Augustine Washington: " [Y] I am 
very glad to find that the Virginia Convention have passed so 
noble a vote, and with so much unanimity . . . many members 
of Congress, in short, the representation of whole provinces, are 
still feeding themselves upon the dainty food of reconciliation . . ," 

126 This letter begins : " I had this morning the pleasure of 
yours of 20 May." For Henry's letter, see note ']']^ supra. 



413 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

CHAPTER IV 

1 This and all former quotations from the Journal, as well as 
all following quotations except where specially stated otherwise, 
are from the original or rough Journal and not from the trans- 
cript or corrected Journal, both of which (formerly in the De- 
partment of State) are now in the Library of Congress. 

There is, however, but little variance between the two. 

2 Here, in the corrected Journal, are the words " respecting in- 
dependency ". The rough Journal, as shown, does not disclose at 
all the character of the resolutions offered; see, however, p. ii8. 

2 The original resolutions (See facing p. io8; see also 
Force's American Archives,^ ser. 4, vol. 6, p. 1 700) (formerly 
in the Department of State) are now in the Library of Congress. 
They are in the handwriting of R. H. Lee. 

% 

The resolutions (framed and in a case) in "Independence 
Hall" (which are claimed, we understand, to be the original) are 
not. (They have been photographed and some of these photo- 
graphic copies also are in " Independence Hall ".) 

We state this thus unreservedly (though, as we have said, the 
resolutions in " Independence Hall " are framed and in a case 
and we, therefore, have had no opportunity to examine them 
except therein) for the following reasons : because the resolutions 
in the Library of Congress are written on a half-page of paper 
which is of the same texture and quality, and bears the lower 
half of the same water-mark, as the full page of paper (See note 
2, chapter VII) upon which is found what we think is the 
original of the report of the committee of the whole of July ist ; 
because the paper, indeed, is the same as that of the various drafts 
by Jefferson of the Declaration existing and spoken of later; 
because the resolutions in the Library of Congress have three 

414 



NOTES TO TEXT 

periods which are not visible in the resolutions in " Independence 
Hall " ; because on the back of the resolutions in the Library of 
Congress is endorsed the following : 

June 7 — 1776. N? 4 — 
Refolutions moved 

June 7*> 1776. 
referred for conlideration 
till to morrow 



respecting Independanc i'^^^ ^^^^^ ^""^ pasted onto 

strong paper and are also wor^ 
so that we cannot say whett 
there was here a y or an e.] 



f. , -._ _ strong paper and are also worn ; 

01 tne U : o go jjj^j ^g cannot say whether 



while on those (one page) in " Independence Hall " is simply : 

June 7 — 1776. 
Refolutions moved 

June 7'.'^ 1776 
referred for confideration 
till to morrow 

because the words " respecting Independanc of the U : S — " just 
given are in Thomson's handwriting, though the pen and ink used 
were evidently different ; because, on the report of the committee 
of the whole, above mentioned, is endorsed, as we shall see, 
" N? 5 " J because the half-page in the Library of Congress has 
been folded and the marks of the ink, resultant from this folding, 
are plainly visible j because the resolutions in the Library of 
Congress are where the resolutions ought to be ; because Charles 
S. Keyser of Philadelphia writes us, under date of November 17, 
1900, respecting those in "Independence Hall": "They have 
been in Museum for about 25 years and were deposited by the 
late Col. Etting [See note 15, chapter XI], the historian of the 
Hall" ; and because one edge of the resolutions in " Independence 
Hall " shows that it has been cut by scissors. 

Moreover, Mrs. I. B. Chew of Philadelphia very kindly fur- 

415 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

nished us with one of the photographic copies of the resolutions 
in " Independence Hall ", concerning which she writes us, under 
date of February 12, 1901 : "I had the photographs taken and 
gave them to Independence Hall . . . Mrs. C C Harrison 
kindly loaned me her broadside of the Declaration that it might 
be photographed ... It has never been photographed be- 
fore — & the resolutions by Richard Henry Lee were photo- 
graphed' at the same time — I had it done at the Museum of 
Independence Hall in my presence, as I would not allow either 
of the papers to go out of my sight — whilst they were in my 
charge " ; and this photographic copy we compared carefully 
with the resolutions in the Library of Congress. This com- 
parison showed that the resolutions in " Independence Hall " 
are so like those in the Library of Congress that these must 
be a facsimile of those in " Independence Hall " or those in 
"Independence Hall" 2. facsimile of the resolutions in the Library 
of Congress. 

Such being the fact, there can be but one conclusion (because 
of the reasons already given, among which, as seen, is the fact 
that the resolutions in the Library of Congress bear certain words, 
etc., which do not appear on the resolutions in " Independence 
Hall" and which were evidently not thought to be material — 
and, therefore, not included — when, as we think, a facsimile of 
the resolutions, now, in the Library of Congress was made, and 
because the resolutions in " Independence Hall " are exactly the 
same as tho^ facsimile found in Force's American Archives^ supra')^ 
viz., that the resolutions in "Independence Hall" are 2l facsimile^ 
and perhaps one of those originally in one of the sets of Force's 
American Archives, 

n 

On the reverse side of the piece of paper upon which they (the 
original resolutions in the Library of Congress) are written is the 
following (^See facing p. 116) (See entry in Journal, p. 118) : 

416 



NOTES TO TEXT 

[S] Resolved that it is the opinion of this Com'' that 
the first Resolution ' he postponed to this day three weeks 
and that in the mean time^a committee he a2:>XJointed to 
prepare a Declaration to the effect of the said first refolution 

+ least any time sh? be lost in case the Congrefs 
agree to this resolution 

The part " Resolved . . . Resolution " is evidently in the 
handwriting of Harrison. 

The following down to and including " said first refolution " 
is in the handwriting of Thomson. 

There is another paper (formerly in the Department of 
State) in the Library of Congress, upon which is endorsed the 
following : " [S] In arranging the Revolutionary papers, this 
paper in the hand writing of Daniel Brent was found among the 
Reports of Committees . . . William A Weaver, December, 
27. 1833." Upon "this paper in the hand writing of Daniel 
Brent", which is a resume of the proceedings in Congress on 
the subject of independence, appears (what is evidently a cor- 
rect statement) : " [S] The words [" -f- least any time . . . 
this resolution "] . . . formed an amendment which is en- 
dorsed upon the back of the original Resolutions, in the 
Hand writing of Robert R. Livingston, a Delegate from New 
York." 

* See note 50, chapter VH. 

u 

He and Gushing " had Leave of Absence ", December 23, 
1775; and the D^ary of Richard Smith shows that he was ap- 
pointed upon a committee on March 11, 1776. He writes to 
Washington, from Philadelphia, March 13th: " [S] I was in 
Virgf (from whence I am but just returned) when your favor 
of the 26*'' Dec' came here . . ." 

# 
27 417 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

A little over a month later (April 20th), he writes, to Henry : 
*' [Q] -^g^s yet unborn, and millions existing at present, must 
rue or bless that Assembly [See p. 76], on which their happi- 
ness or misery will so eminently depend. Virginia has hitherto 
taken the lead in great affairs, and many now look to her with 
anxious expectation, hoping that the spirit, wisdom, and energy 
of her councils, will rouse America from the fatal lethargy into 
which the feebleness, folly, and interested views of the Proprie- 
tary governments, with the aid of Tory machinations, have thrown 
her most unhappily . . . The act of Parliament has to every 
legal intent and purpose dissolved our government . . . This 
proves the undispensable necessity of our taking up government 
immediately . . . above all to set an example which N. Caro- 
lina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and N. York will most assuredly, 
in my opinion, follow . . . When this is done, give peremptory 
instructions to your Delegates to take every effectual step to 
secure America from the despotic aims of the British Court by 
Treaties of alliance with foreign States, or by any means that 
shall be thought most conducive to that end ... I leave it with 
you to judge, whether, whilst we are hesitating about forming 
alliance. Great Britain may not, and probably will not, seal our 
ruin by signing a Treaty of partition with two or three ambitious 
powers that may aid in conquering us . . . All this danger how- 
ever may be prevented by a timely alliance with proper and 
willing powers in Europe . . . But no State in Europe will 
either Treat or Trade with us so long as we consider ourselves 
Subjects of G. B. Honor, dignity, and the customs of states for- 
bid them until we take rank as an independant people . . . Our 
clearest interest therefore, our very existence as freemen, requires 
that we take decisive steps now, whilst we may, for the security 
of America." (For Henry's reply, see note 77, chapter HI.) 

On May loth^ however, General Charles Lee writes from 
Williamsburg to him : " [A] Your Brother and I think from the 

418 



NOTES TO TEXT 

language of your letters that the pulse of the Congress Is low ; 
and that you yourself with all your vigor are by collision somewhat 
more contracted in your hopes than We wish to have found — 
by the eternal God if you do not declare immediately for positive 
independence We are all ruin'd — " 

Jefferson, writing at Monticello to John Adams, December 
1 8, 1825, says : " [P] I presume you have received a copy of the 
life of Rich"^ H. Lee from his grandson of the same name, author 
of the work, you and I know that he merited much during the 
revolution — eloquent, bold and ever watchful at his post, of 
which his biographer omits no proof. I am not certain whether 
the friends of George Mason, of Patrick Henry, yourself, and 
even of Gtn\ Washington may not reclaim some feathers of the 
plumage given him noble as was his proper and original coat, 
but on this subject I will anticipate your own judgment." Also, 
see Appendix^ p. 346. 

Also, see p. 99; note 'j^post; p. 121 ; Samuel Adams' letter, 
p. 213; Appendix^ note 106; and Appendix^ pp. 350 and 351. 

^ Lossing — evidently without authority — says: " [H] To 
shield them from the royal ire. Congress directed its secretary to 
omit the names of its mover and seconder, in the Journals." 

^ Thomson himself, as "repeat[ed], in his own words" by 
William Allen (See the American ^arterly Review^ C and N, 
I, 30), says : " I was married to my second wife, on a Thurs- 
day; on the next Monday, I came to town to pay my respects 
to my wife's aunt, and the family ; just as I alighted in Chesnut 
street, the door-keeper of congress (then first met [October, 
1774],) accosted me with a message from them, requesting my 
presence . . . I . . . followed the messenger ... to the Car- 
penters' Hall, and entered congress ... I walked up the aisle, 
and standing opposite to the President, I bowed, and told him I 
awaited his pleasure. He replied, ' Congress desire the favour 

419 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

of you, Sir, to take their Minutes.' I bowed in acquiescence, 
and took my seat at the desk. After a short silence, Patrick 
Henry rose to speak ... he observed, that . . . our public 
circumstances were like those of a man in deep embarrassment 
and trouble, who had called his friends together to devise what 
was best to be done for his relief — one would propose one thing, 
and another a different one, whilst perhaps a third would think 
of something better suited to his unhappy circumstances, which 
he would embrace, and think no more of the rejected schemes, 
with which he would have nothing to do. ' I thought,' continued 
the venerable narrator, 'that this was very good instruction to 
me, with respect to the taking the Minutes; what congress 
adopted, I committed to writing ; with what they rejected, I had 
nothing farther to do ; and even this method led to some squab- 
bles with the members, who were desirous of having their speeches 
and resolutions, however put to rest by the majority, still pre- 
served upon the Minutes.' " 

# 

Another interesting bit regarding the Journal appears in a 
letter of Hancock dated May i6, 1776: "I am prevented from 
enclosing a resolve by means of the Secretary, with the Journal, 
being out of town." 

7 Madison, writing to Thomas Ritchie from Montpelier, Va., 
August 13, 1822, (as shown by what is evidently the original 
draft, though marked " Copy ", formerly in the Department of 
State and now in the Library of Congress) says : " The Enquirer 
of the 6* [See Appendix^ p. 350] very properly animadverts on 
the attempts to pervert the historical circumstances relating to 
the Draught of the Declaration of Independance. The fact, that 
M' Jefferson was the author and the nature of the alterations 
made in the Original, are too well known and the proofs are too 
well preserved to admit of successful misrepresentation In one 
important particular, the truth, tho on record, seems to have es- 

420 



m 



NOTES TO TEXT 

caped attention : and justice to be so far left undone to Virg? It 
was in obedience to her positive instruction to her Delegates in 
Cong- that the motion for Independance was made. The in- 
struction passed unanimously in her Convention on the 15 of May 
1776 . . . and the mover was of course, the mouth only of the 
Delegation, as the Delegation was of the Convention. Had P. 
Randolph the first named not been cut off by Death, the motion 
w'^ have been made by him. The duty, in consequence of that 
event devolved on the next in order [See note 62, chapter II] 
R. H. Lee, who had political merits of a sort very different from 
that circumstantial distinction." 

John Adams, however, — in a letter to R. H. Lee, the grand- 
son and biographer, dated February 24, 1821 — says: "[J] 
Richard Henry Lee . . . was a gentleman of fine talents, of 
amiable manners, and great worth. As a public speaker, he had 
a fluency as easy and graceful as it was melodious, which his 
classical education enabled him to decorate with frequent allusion 
to some of the finest passages of antiquity. With all his brothers 
he was always devoted to the cause of his country ... I can- 
not take upon me to assert, upon my own memory, who were 
the movers of particular measures in Congress, because I thought 
it of little importance. I have read in some of our histories, 
that . . . Richard Henry Lee [made the first motion] for a 
declaration of independence. As such motions were generally 
concerted beforehand, I presume . . . Richard H. Lee was pre- 
ferred for the motion for independence, because he was from the 
most ancient colony, &c. ... It ought to be eternally remem- 
bered, that the eastern members were interdicted from taking the 
lead in any great measures, because they lay under an odium and 
a great weight of unpopularity. Because they had been sus- 
pected from the beginning of having independence in contempla- 
tion, they were restrained from the appearance of promoting any 

421 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

great measures by their own discretion, as well as by the general 
sense of Congress. That your grandfather made a speech in 
favor of a declaration of independence, I have no doubt, and 
very probably more than one, though I cannot take upon me to 
repeat from memory any part of his speeches, or any others that 
were made upon that occasion. The principles and sentiments 
and expressions of the Declaration of Independence had been so 
often pronounced and echoed and reechoed in that Congress for 
two years before, and especially for the last six months, that it 
will forever be impossible to ascertain who uttered them, and 
upon what occasion." 

s See note 22, chapter VI. 

^ Madison says (See note 7, supra) the same. 

1^ See p. 119. 

^^ The last two letters of " this " are written over an e. 

^2 These notes^ so far as they relate to the subject of independ- 
ence, are given in full (except the portion here quoted and 
the Declaration proper, found at p. 172) in the Appendix^ p. 295. 

The original notes are among the Jefferson papers (formerly in 
the Department of State) now in the Library of Congress, bound 
as a part of Jefferson's Autobiography^ which begins as follows : 
" [S] 1821. Jan. 6 at the age of 77. I begin to make some 
memoranda and state some recollections of dates & facts con- 
cerning myself, for my own more ready reference & for the 
information of my family." 

They seem to have been written practically at one sitting (See, 
however, Appendix^ note 15), and, we think^ after his retirement 
from Congress, of which he speaks as follows in his Autohiogra- 
phy : " [S] The new government was organizing ... I thought 
I could be of more use in forwarding that work. I therefore 
retired from my seat in Congress, on the 2'! of Sep. [1776] resigned 
it, and took my place in the legislature of my state, on the 7* of 
October." 

422 



NOTES TO TEXT 

This and all other quotations from the notes wqvq taken from 
the original MS. 

13 See p. 137. 

^* See Life of Thomas Jefferson^ etc., by Thomas James 
Parton, p. 187. 

^^ See pp. 116 and 139. 

1^ A copy of the notes sent by JefFerson (and in his handwrit- 
ing) to Madison in 1783 (See Appendix^ p. 352) reads as follows : 
". . . Livingston, E. Rutiege, Dickinson . . .'* The correc- 
tions in the notes^ however, are, we think, in different (yet brown) 
ink than the body of the notes^ seeming to be of the same color 
as (though perhaps slightly darker than) that of the copy of the 
notes sent to Madison. John Rutledge, of course, was not 
present. 

(This and all other quotations from this copy were taken from 
the original MS.) 

^"^ See note 23, post. 

^^ See p. 117; but bear in mind that Rutledge's letter was 
written on the 8th. 

19 The last two letters of " this " are written over at. The 
copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 has "this". 

20 f-f^ Ponnoylvania ," and " Dcla ", of course, do not appear in 
the copy of the notes which JefFerson sent to Madison in 1783. 

21 This erasure was made evidently at the time of writing. 
The copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as follows: 
". . . must retire . . ." 

22 The copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as 
follows : " of the present campaign, which we all hoped would 
be succesful, we . . ." 

23 Dickinson writes, from Wilmington, October 9, 1807, to 
Mercy Warren, who had submitted to him her history of the 
Revolution : " [E] As well as I can rely on my fading memory, 
R. H. Lee and John Adams were the principal speakers in favor 

423 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

of a declaration of independence. As for myself and those who 
acted with me, we certainly entertained, and expressed, apprehen- 
sions of great calamities to both countries should that measure be 
adopted, but the expression of these apprehensions was always 
accompanied by a solemn declaration that, dreadful as they (those 
calamities) might be, they were to be firmly encountered, what- 
ever the consequences might be." 

2* Charles Botta, in History of the Revolution^ gives a speech 
purporting to be Lee's speech on this day (the 8th) ; and 
R, H. Lee, in Memoir of the Life of R. H. Lee^ his grandfather, 
quotes the concluding portion of the speech thus given, with 
the following introduction : " Memory has preserved a faint 
outline of his first speech, and pronounces the following, as the 
Concluding sentences, with which he introduced his memorable 
motion . . ." 

John Adams, writing from Quincy, July 30, 1815, to M:Kean 
and to Jefferson, says, however : " [QyC] Chevalier Botta . . . has 
followed the example of the Greek and Roman Historians, by 
composing speeches for his Generals and Orators. The Re- 
viewers have translated one of Mr R H Lee in favour of the 
declaration of Independence. A splendid morcell of oratory it 
is; how faithful, you can judge": and Jefferson replies from 
Monticello, August loth: " [P] Botta, as you observe, has put 
his own speculations and reasonings into the mouths of persons 
whom he names, but who, you & I know, never made such 
speeches " ; and M:Kean, from Philadelphia, November 2Cth : 
" [J] T^^ speech of Mr. Richard H. Lee, given by . . . Botta, 
which 1 have read, may have been delivered, but I have no re- 
membrance of it, though in Congress, nor would it do any 
member much credit." Moreover, Madison, in a letter to George 
Alexander Otis, who was translating Botta's History^ etc., writes 
(as shown by what is evidently the original draft, formerly in the 
Department of State and now in the Library of Congress), from 

424 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Montpelier in January, 1821: "He [Botta] was probably led to 
put his fictitious and doubtless very erroneous speeches exhibiting 
the arguments for & ag^* Independence, into the mouths of Mf 
Lee & M"" Dickenson, by discovery that the former was the 
organ of the proposition, and the latter the most distinguished 
of its opponents. It is to be regretted that the Historian had 
not been more particularly acquainted with what passed in Cong^ 
on that great occasion. He would probably very justly have 
assigned to your venerable correspondent [John Adams] a very 
conspicuous part on the Theatre. I well recollect that the re- 
ports from his fellow labourers in the cause from Virgt^ filled 
every mouth in that State with the praises due to the comprehen- 
siveness of his views, the force of his arguments, and the boldness 
of his patriotism." 

Indeed, in any event, Lee, the biographer, is in error in calling 
it the speech " with which he introduced his memorable motion " 5 
for the resolutions were introduced on the '/th. 

Also, see note 7, supra, 

25 See p. 117; but bear in mind that Rutledge's letter was 
written on the 8th. Franklin may have been absent : see note 7, 
chapter VI. 

26 This was inserted evidently at the time of writing. The 
copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as follows: 
". . . they had only . . ." 

27 See pp. 52, 59 and 69. 

2S It would seem certain from this that Rodney as well as 
M:Kean was present at this time (though, of course, we could 
not say even then that Rodney must, therefore, have been present 
on both the 8th and loth). (He was present certainly on May 
29th ; for, on that day, he writes from Philadelphia, to Thomas 
Rodney : " [Gz] The Colonies of North-Carolina and Virginia 
have both by their Conventions declared for Independence by a 
Unanimous Vote j and have Instructed their members to move 

425 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

and Vote for it in Congress . . .") See, however, note 44, 
chapter IX. See note 113, chapter III. 



Read, on May ist, as we have seen (See p. 61), expected to 
go (from Philadelphia) to Wilmington " on Saturday next." 

Indeed, on May loth, he writes from Wilmington, to M:Kean 
and Rodney : " [GR] I know not when I shall be with you, 
as I may be of some little use here. I shall stay till there is 
some alteration in the appearance of things. Excuse this scrawl 
. . . P. S. — Apothecary's paper — written in the smell of vials." 

On May 14th, however, he was again in Philadelphia ; for he 
writes there on that day : " [GR] I have your letter of the 12th 
instant. I did expect to have been with you last evening, but 
was detained by a special call of the marine committee ... I 
was out at Mr. Gurney's all Friday, on a message from Mrs. 
Gurney the preceding night, delivered to me in bed about eleven 
o'clock . . . As to my own health, it is not so good as I could 
wish. This day week I confined myself to the house, and took 
some bark, that has relieved me, and am now better, and I should 
have dined with Gurney to day, but the rain induced me to accept 
of a seat in Mr. Braxton's coach, and I have been at Mr. 
Robert Morris' country-house, with a set of people who think 
and act alike — some consolation in these times. As our Assem- 
bly are to meet to-morrow week, I shall have a proper excuse to 
return to you the last of this. Be assured I wish it most sincerely 
. . . P. S. — I expect Mr. Rogers, of Maryland, to carry this." 

29 From this — and from their letter of the 8th to the Provin- 
cial Congress (See p. 183) (which seems to have been lost or 
taken from the files) and the fact that R. R. Livingston accepted 
a place upon the committee to draft the Declaration (See p. 
200), etc. — , it would seem that the New York Delegates did 
not take the decided stand at this time that they did later, after 
the receipt of the reply (See p. \%\) from their Provincial Congress* 

426 



■mt 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Indeed, it is curious to note that the Delegates of New York — 
who are not mentioned here as "absolutely tied up," while 
those of Pennsylvania and Maryland are — were the only ones 
who did not vote on the last days. 

20 This erasure was made evidently at the time of writing. 
The copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 stops with the 
colon. 

21 This correction was made evidently at the time of writing. 
The copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as follows : 
". . . consonant with the . . ." 

22 Common Sense puts it thus : " Under our present domination 
of British subjects, we can neither be received nor heard abroad : 
the custom of all courts is against us, and will be so, until, by an 
independence, we take rank with other nations." 

^ In Dunlap's^ etc., (C) of October ist appears the following, as 
a letter of May 19th from London: "Should America this spring 
declare Independence, it is most certain that France and many 
other powers of Europe will give her immediate assistance, if 
applied to, which no power will attempt to do while the Ameri- 
cans stile themselves subjects of the King of Great Britain . . . 
America must expect to undergo a ten years war, and perhaps a 
total defeat at last, if she does not declare immediate Independence, ^"^ 

^ For a letter of the New York Delegates, also of the 8th, 
see p. 183, 

^ See, to the same effect, Hancock's letter, p. 137. 

36 Seep. 188. 

3^ For the debate on this day (and on the 8th), see p. ill. 
See p. 137. 

38 We feel sure that this resolution is what is found (See note 
3, supra) upon the reverse side of the piece of paper upon which 
are written the original resolutions of June 7th. It will be noticed 
that a few changes were made by Congress, 

39 See p. 125. 

427 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^0 These words were added^ sometime after 1783 : see Appendix^ 
note 5. It, therefore, would appear that originally Jefferson men- 
tioned here but five Colonies ; and that these were New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. 

He doubtless added " South Carolina " because it occurred to 
him that her Delegates also were opposed at this time to a declara- 
tion (See, however, p. 132), and, of course, in this respect^ the 
addition made the notes more accurate j but, at the same time, 
the notes as originally written evidently were correct. Jefferson 
is here speaking of the Colonies which had not yet matured for 
falling from the parent stem but were fast advancing to that 
state andyir which ^^it was thought most prudent to wait awhile^\ 
Congress evidently did not expect to hear from South Carolina 
during the next " three weeks ". 

41 See the letters of Wells and Jefferson, p. 195 et seq. It is 
quite important that these be read in connection with this portion 
of this chapter. (See, however, p. 128.) See p. 25. 

Perhaps some will be found, however, who will conclude that 
the change of Hewes took place on June 24th (See p. 130) 
(though there was no " immediate motion for adjournment '* 
on that day) or even as late as July ist (See p. 163); or that 
it took place — before, in fact, the question of declaring inde- 
pendence came (directly) before Congress — on March 2 2d 
(See p. 104) or on May 9th (when the resolution of May 15th, 
as called, was adopted in the committee of the whole and ad- 
journed by the request of a Colony). 

See (also) pp. 23, 114, 139, 161 and 163 and note 51, 
chapter IX. 

^ He writes from Philadelphia to Samuel Johnston, July 28, 
1776: " [N] . . . these two Capital points [a confederation 
and a plan for foreign alliances] ought to have been settled before 
our declaration of Independance went forth to the world, this was 
my opinion long ago and every day experience serves to confirm 

428 



NOTES TO TEXT 

me In that opinion . . ." For other letters from him, see pp. 31 
and 81; note 93, chapter III; pp. 85 and 139; and note 12, 
chapter XI. Also, see pp. 23 and 25. 

*3 Also, see pp. 23, 25 and 201. 

4^ Samuel Adams (?): see p. 195 et seq. 

^5 A letter from Wolcott of this date is given in note 98, 
chapter IX. 

» 

See note 14, chapter VI. 

*6 He writes to John Lowell on the next day : " [QyC] Some 
of you must prepare your Stomacks to come to Philadelphia. I am 
weary, and must ask Leave to return to my Family, after a little 
Time, and one of my Colleagues at least, must do the Same, or 
I greatly fear, do worse. " 

On the 1 6th, he writes, to his wife: " [Qy] Great Things 
are on the Tapis. These Throws will usher in the Birth of a 
fine Boy." 

*7 See p. 2.00. 

^^ Also, see p. 11. 

49 See p. 99. 

^^ Pickering writes to him from Salem, August 2d: "[MsC] 
By the public journals, it appears that . . . the next day [June 
nth], the committee for preparing the declaration . . . was 
chosen . . . My Jefferson being first on the list, became the 
chairman. This, considering the composition of the committee, 
and that M^ Jefferson was the youngest man [This is a mistake; 
Livingston was younger : but Jefferson was the youngest of 
those who favored a declaration], would appear remarkable. — 
M' Charles Lee, who married the daughter of Richard Henry 
Lee, once gave me this account : that M^ Lee having moved 
the resolution for declaring the Colonies Independent, would, 
according to the usual course, have been elected chairman of 
the committee . . . but sickness in his family caused him to 

429 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

return home. M^ JefFerson, another Virginian, was then chosen 
to supply his place. By D\ Ramsay's history of the revolution 
it appears that R. H. Lee moved the resolution, and that it was 
seconded by you. This, I have always supposed, was done 
by previous concert : it being the policy of the Massachusetts 
delegates (as M^ Samuel Adams once told me) to cultivate the 
best harmony with those of Virginia, and in great measures to 
get her to take the leading step. — This flattered the pride of 
the Ancient Dominion and obtained a pledge of her persever- 
ance . . . The late chief justice Parsons once told me, that 
in conversing on this subject, you informed him that you and 
M^ JefFerson were the sub-committee to prepare the declaration, 
and that you left to M.\ JefFerson the making of the draught. 
Some years ago, a copy of the declaration, as reported to Con- 
gress, was put into my hands by some one of the Lee family. 
It was in Mr JefFerson's hand-writing, and inclosed in a short 
letter from him to R. H. Lee, together with a copy of the 
declaration as amended in Congress . . . Accurate copies of 
the reported declaration & the letter I lodged a few years ago 
with the Historical Society in Boston [See note 50, chapter 
VII] ... I have thought it desirable that the facts in this case 
^hould be ascertained. You alone can give a full statement of 
them . . .'* 

# 
In Political Essays. A Series of Letters addressed to the People 
of the United States (18 12), Pickering says: "And Mr. JefFerson 
being the first on the list of the committee was of course the 
chairman. A particular policy governed the choice. In the 
early period of our revolution, it was deemed expedient, in very 
important questions, that Virginia should take the lead. Virginia 
was then the largest and most populous of the Colonies. Per- 
haps too, it was expected that her going before would powerfully 
influence her neighbors to follow in her track. There might be 

430 



NOTES TO TEXT 

other reasons. Such, however, was the fact ; as I was once 
assured by the late Mr. Samuel Adams (then a member from 
Massachusetts) with a significance of countenance, in making 
the remark, which distinguished that wily politician." 

^^ See p. 9. 

^2 R. H. Lee himself writes Jrom Philadelphia to Washington, 
June ijth : " [S] I shall be exceedingly obliged to you Sir for 
getting M^ Eustace to give in writing all that he knows about 
this business, and inclose the same to me at Williamsburg . . . 
This day I sett off for Virginia . . ." 

Also, Rogers writes, June 12th : " [PD] Upon my return to 
my lodging last Night I found in my room your favor of the 
ii^? of May . . . How it came there, or for what reason it has 
been a Month upon the road, I am unable to inform you . . . 
Ever since I have been here . . . The Canada Commissioners 
are returned . . . This comes by Col Richard Henry Lee who 
if you should happen to fall in with him will give you the best 
information of every matter you may be desireous of know- 
ing . . . best respects to M? Lee and my good friends of 
Mellwood ..." 

^3 Jefferson writes from Monticello, January 31, 18 19, to 
Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse : "[P] I was the youngest man but 
one in the old Congress, and he [Samuel Adams] the oldest but 
one, as I believe, his only senior, I suppose, was Stephen Hop- 
kins of and by whom the honorable mention made in your letter 
was richly merited, altho' my high reverence for Samuel Adams 
was returned by habitual notices from him which highly flattered 
me, yet the disparity of age prevented intimate and confidential 
communications. I always considered him as more than any 
other member the fountain of our important measures, and altho* 
he was neither an eloquent nor easy speaker, whatever he said 
was sound and commanded the profound attention of the 
House, in the discussions on the floor of Congress he reposed 

431 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

himself on our main pillar in debate mr John Adams, these 
two gentlemen were verily a host in our councils, comparisons 
with their associates, Northern or Southern, would answer no 
profitable purpose, but they would suffer by comparison with 
none." 



CHAPTER V 



1 Also, see p. 125. 

2 As to their subsequent actions, see pp. 181 and 187, re- 
spectively. New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland are treated 
in this chapter. See note 40, chapter IV. Indeed, see p. 132. 

^ See note 40, chapter IV, and Appendix^ note 5. 

* See p. 78. 

^ He was in Congress as late (See p. 59) as June loth; 
for he signed a letter there on that day. 

^ He seems not to have attended upon Congress : see note 
27, chapter III. 

'^ The others were Richard Smith, De Hart and William 
Livingston: see p. 57. ^ 

Smith — before the reading of the resolution of the Convention 
of Virginia — asked of the Provincial Congress "leave to resign 
his seat " in the Continental Congress " on account of indis- 
position", which resignation was ordered to be accepted. He 
seems not to have been opposed to independence : see p. 58. 

De Hart was chosen upon a committee in Congress, May 
1 8th. He left probably on the day of the postponement. On 
June 13th — the day after Smith's resignation — , he also asked 
of the Provincial Congress leave to resign his seat in the Conti- 
nental Congress, " on account of the situation of his family 
and affairs ", which resignation also was accepted. He seems 
to have been opposed to independence : see ibid* 

432 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Livingston also would seem (See ibid, and note 13, post) 
to have been opposed to independence. Indeed, John Adams 
says (See Jay., note 39, chapter IX) that he " left Congress 
himself*'. Adams does not, however, say when Livingston left; 
but we know that he was chosen upon a committee on June 5th; 
that, on June 12th, a committee was chosen, to be composed of 
one Delegate from each Colony, and that no one was chosen 
from New Jersey — doubtless because there was no one in 
Philadelphia to choose; and that, on the 14th, a l^tt^r from him, 
dated the 13th, was laid before Congress. On the 21st — the 
day before the election — ,the Provincial Congress resolved that 
the President write to him to "take command of the Militia 
destined for New York " ; and the minutes of the 25th show 
that he answered declining " for reasons therein mentioned ". 
He had long since (October 28, 1775), however, been appointed 
a Brigadier-General of Militia of New Jersey ; and, indeed, 
he writes as such to General Mercer from Elizabethtown on 
July 4th. 

^ See note 7, supra. 

^ Before the election took place, he " resigned " and his 
resignation was accepted. See his letters, p. 57 et seq.., and 
his letter immediately following in the text. Indeed, John Adams 
writes to him, July 21st : " [QyC] Your Delegates, behave very 

well : but I wish for you among them. I think, however, 

that you judged wisely in continuing in Convention. where 

I believe you have been able to do more Good, than you would 
have done here. — " 

^^ He signed the Declaration on parchment now in the De- 
partment of State. 

^ John Adams, in 1774, describes him as "[J] a clear, 
sensible preacher." See p. 60. 

^ Also, see note 9, supra^ and p. 13 1. 

^2 John Adams, in his Autobiography .^ under this date, says : 
2^ 433 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

" [Qy] A new Delegation appeared from New Jersey M"" William 
Livingston and all others who had hitherto resisted Independence 
were left out." It seems likely, however, that the Journal is 
correct, and that the Delegates other than Hopkinson did not 
arrive until on or just before July ist. Indeed, Adams himself, 
in a letter to Mercy Warren (See p. 159), in describing the debate 
on that day (July 1st), says: " [QyC] . . . the New Jersey 
Delegates appearing for the first time, desired that the question 
might be discussed " j though, of course, he may have meant 
simply "for the first time" when a declaration of independence 
was under consideration. 

Also, see p. 158. 

# 

John Adams writes to his wife, August 21st : " [Ad] Yester- 
day morning I took a walk into Arch Street to see Mr. Peale's 
painter's room ... At this shop I met Mr. Francis Hopkin- 
son, late a Mandamus Counsellor of New Jersey, now a member 
of the Continental Congress, who, it seems, is a native of Phila- 
delphia, a son of a prothonotary of this county, who was a 
person much respected. The son was liberally educated, and 
is a painter and a poet. I have a curiosity to penetrate a little 
deeper into the bosom of this curious gentleman, and may pos- 
sibly give you some more particulars concerning him. He is 
one of your pretty, little, curious, ingenious men. His head is 
not bigger than a large apple, less than our friend Pemberton, or 
Dr. Simon Tufts. I have not met with anything in natural 
history more amusing and entertaining than his personal appear- 
ance ; yet he is genteel and well bred, and is very social." 

Rush writes : " [Rid] May 9*^ This morning died suddenly of 
an Apoplexy Francis Hopkinson Judge of the federal Court of 
Pennsylvania. He was a man of various talents — he excelled 
in poetry & music, and had great taste, with some knowledge in 
p^ainting. His fort was humor & Satyre in which Posterity will 

434 



NOTES TO TEXT 

probably say he was not surpassed by Lucian — Swift or Rabel- 
lais. These extraordT powers of nature were generally conse- 
crated to the purposes of patriotism & Science. He possessed 
uncommon talents for pleasing in company. His wit was not 
of that coarse kind which sets 'a table in a roar'. It was mild 
— delicate and elegant, and infusing chearfulness rather than 
mirth in all who heard it . . . He shared largely in the friend- 
ship of D"" Franklin. He was so agreable as neighbour that 
he constantly created friends in every part of the city in which 
he resided. — His domestic character was unsullied by any of the 
usual imperfections which sometimes cleave to genius. He was 
frugal — regular — faithful — and kind in his family. In public 
life he was active and just, and the various causes which contrib- 
uted to the history of the establishment of the Independance 
and the federal Gov:^ of the United States will not be fully traced 
Unless much is ascribed to the irresistable influence of the Ridi- 
cule which he occasionally poured forth upon the enemies of 
those great political events. — " Of course, see p. 192. 

1* We know that he was in Philadelphia on June 3d ; and he 
was chosen upon a committee as late as the 12th. The Journal 
shows that, on the next day, " A letter from M' M Kean dated 
2. "clock this morning . . . was laid before Congress." This 
letter — headed: " [S] Newcastle June 13*^ half past 2 AM. 
1776." — says: "The Assembly here have information this 
moment by express that there are a thousand Tories under 
arms in Sussex county . . . but we expect soon to give a good 
Account of these misguided people. — " It was followed by 
another, which reads : " [S] Newcastle June 13*:'' 7 oclock 
P. M. 1776 ... I have the pleasure to inform you that the 
Insurgents in Sussex county have dispersed . . ." 

1^ See note 30, chapter VII. 

1^ See p. 105. 

^^ See note 29, post. 

435 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

18 See p. 189. 

1^ This was due somewhat to distance but more especially to 
the facts that her Convention had been called for the 20th, while 
the Provincial Congress of New Jersey and the Assembly of 
Delaware had been called for the lOth, and that her Convention 
sent word, as we shall see, to Philadelphia, for all of the Delegates 
to attend and awaited a reply before taking any action. 

20 On February 2d, the Delegates in attendance upon Congress 
from Maryland were Paca, Alexander and Rogers ; for, on that 
day, the first two sign a letter to the Council of Safety and 
in it say : " [Md] ... a Committee of Congress of which 
M" Rogers is a Member . . ." They were soon joined by 
Chase ; for he writes a letter " [Md] In Congress " on the 6th. 
On the 2d, as shown by another letter from him, to Daniel of 
St. Thomas Jenifer, he had been at " [Md] Charles Town". 
These four Delegates seem to have served practically throughout 
February. On the 7th and on the 9th, Chase is chosen upon 
a committee; on the loth, he writes to Jenifer from Philadelphia; 
on the 13th, Alexander is chosen upon a committee; on the 
same day and on the 14th and 15th, we know. Chase was 
present; on the i6th, Alexander signs a letter to the Council; 
on the 20th, Paca and Chase are chosen upon a committee ; 
on the 2 1 St, a matter was referred to Paca, Chase and others; on 
the 23d, Paca is chosen upon a committee ; on the 25th, 
Alexander and Rogers sign a letter to the Council ; on the 26th, 
Chase is chosen upon a committee; and, on the 27th, Alexander 
writes (For a previous portion of this letter, see p. 68), to the 
Council : " [Md] I make no doubt you have heard M' Chase 
is ordered to Canada, he sets off in a few days. M"" Rogers 
has Leave of Absence, should he leave Congress, Maryl*^ will 
be without Representation. 1 mention this, to shew the Neces- 
sity of your Requesting Mess'^ Johnson & Stone to attend. I 
wrote M' Tilghman, but have not any Answer, altho' my private 

436 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Business requires my Presence in Maryland, I shall not leave 
this City until a suffi' number of my Brethren arrive." Just 
when Rogers left, we do not know; but Tilghman was chosen 
upon a committee on March 4th, and Johnson was present, we 
know, on the 7th (of March). Alexander, however, seems not 
to have left, despite their arrival. On the 9th, he and Johnson 
write from Philadelphia to the Council. On the 20th also, he 
writes to the Council, mentioning Johnson as if present (and, 
indeed, Johnson was chosen upon a committee on that day), and 
signs "[Md] for self & Colleagues"; and he signs again, with 
Johnson, on the 26th. Tilghman remained certainly until the 
1 6th (of March), for he writes to the Council from Philadelphia 
on that day ; while Chase was present as late, we know, as the 
22d. On the 19th, Paca, Chase and Johnson sign a letter to 
the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania. About the time of 
Chase's departure for Canada (The commissioners left New 
York, April 2d, as shown by Carroll's Journal — See The Life 
of Charles Carroll of Carrollton^ etc., by Kate Mason Rowland), 
it seems probable that Tilghman — though he had not been 
present long — also left, and was followed soon by Paca, and 
that Stone arrived. That this is so is based upon the facts that 
Alexander, Johnson, Paca and Stone sign a letter to the Council 
written at Philadelphia on April 2d ; that Johnson is chosen upon 
a committee on the 3d ; that Johnson, Stone and Alexander 
sign on the 9th ; that Johnson and Stone only sign on the 12th 
and that, on that day, Alexander is chosen upon a committee in 
the place of Chase, who, the Journal says, is absent ; that John- 
son, Stone and Alexander sign on the 13th and i6th (and Stone 
and Alexander only, a second letter, on the latter date) ; that 
Johnson signs — mentioning Stone and Alexander as if present 
— on the 17th; that Johnson, Stone and Alexander sign on the 
1 8th; that Johnson is chosen upon a committee on the 19th and 
on the 22d J that Johnson signs — stating " [Md] R. A. and T. 

437 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

S. join in respects to you" — on the 23d; and that Alexander 
is chosen upon a committee on the 24th and that, on the same 
day, as we have seen, Stone writes to the Council : " [Md] I 
shall set out on Saturday or Sunday next to meet my wife." 
(This, of course, may mean that his wife was on her way to 
Philadelphia, to remain with him there ; but we think that, 
under all the circumstances, this is not likely.) Two days 
before the last letter was written, the Council write to the Del- 
egates, asking them to attend a meeting of the Convention, 
called for May 7th j and, on the day after (the 25th) that 
letter was written, which was the day doubtless upon which the 
letter from the Council was received in Philadelphia, Stone (who 
was preparing to depart, as we have seen), Johnson and Tilgh- 
man (who had evidently returned to relieve Stone) write : " [Md] 
If M"^ Rogers is able we wish his attendance here that as many 
of us as might be should be at the convention we don't think 
the province ought to be left unrepresented here." Johnson 
was still present on the 26th; for he was chosen upon a 
committee on that day. Goldsborough (See note 70, chapter 
II) also now attended, as appears from the choice of him upon 
a committee on the 29th. The Council, on the 27th, for- 
warded a copy of this request to Rogers, asking that he com- 
ply therewith ; and Rogers, on the 28th, replied, to the Council : 
" [Md] I shall endeavour to comply with the request in your 
favor received this morning by express. I am just recovering 
from a severe attack of the Gout, and find myself much relaxed 
and weakened, but I am in hopes of being able to set off on 
Wednesday next, and of getting to Philadelphia time enough 
for such of the Maryland Gentlemen as intend to be at the 
Convention, to attend the first day of its meeting [.] " The 
records of the Convention, sitting at Annapolis, show that 
Johnson and Goldsborough were present there on the 8th (of 
May) and that Paca appeared there the next day ; and that, 

438 



NOTES TO TEXT 

as shown by the choice of them upon committees, Golds- 
borough was present certainly as late as the 24th and Paca and 
Johnson on the 25th, the day of the adjournment. Alexander 
had remained in Philadelphia, as shown by the choice of him 
upon a committee in Congress on April 27th and on May 8th; 
and so also evidently had Tilghman, for he was chosen upon a 
committee on May 25th. Rogers arrived, to complete the repre- 
sentation, probably as he had promised. (See note 28, chapter 
IV.) Stone returned on or before June 4th ; for a letter to 
the Delegates from the Council, dated June 8th, says: " [Md] 
We received M' Stone's Letter of the 4* inst . . ." He evi- 
dently relieved Alexander; for, on June 12th, the Council write 
the latter : " [Md] M*^ Purvience has just now informed us of 
your return to Balt° Town, after your long absence from your 
family and friends . . . We hope soon to hear of your being 
restored to perfect health." 

21 This " call " was, of course, wholly unconnected with the 
(direct) action of Congress upon the subject of independence. 

22 See note 20, supra. 

23 Carroll's Journal for June 1 0th says: "Set ofF from Eliz- 
abeth-town half-past five. Got to Bristol at eight o'clock, 
P. M.: — at nine, embarked in our boats, and were rowed down 
the Delaware to Philadelphia, where we arrived at two o'clock 
in the night." 

2* Franklin returned earlier^ on account of ill health. He left 
Montreal, May nth; on the 27th, he writes from New York 
City to Chase and Carroll : " [N] We arrived here safe yesterday 
Evening"; and he arrived in Philadelphia, May 31st. 

2^ February 15th. See, however, note 20, supra. 

2^ This note is folded ; and, on the back, is : " John Adams 
Esq!" It bears no date. 

^^ Chase's wife was very ill: see p. 130 and note 51, chapter 
IX. 

439 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

28 At least, the copy in the copy-book is so dated ; and this 
follows a copy of a letter dated the I2th and precedes one of the 
1 6th, which last is followed by one of the 2ist. Each is marked 
"Sent". 

29 Our reasons for this belief are as follows: 

The copy in the copy-book, it is true, is dated the 14th (Also, 
see note 28, supra ); but Chase's letter of the 28th (See p. 131) 
acknowledges Adams' letter of the I'/th^ and Adams seems not 
to have written any of that date, so far as the copy-book shows. 
M:Kean can scarcely (See p. 125) have ''returned from the 
Lower Counties " by the iph. The " Letter which has just 
come to my Hand ", of which Adams speaks, itself was dated 
the i^th (See p. 124). Chase had not yet heard (See p. 130) 
from Adams on the 21st > and it usually took only three or four 
days for a letter between Philadelphia and Annapolis : see pp. 126, 
127, 130, 132, 242 and 271. 

2^ See p. 124. 

^1 He was not reelected, July 4th, though present in the Con- 
vention certainly on the first three days of July. See note no, 
chapter XL 

32 As for Alexander, see note 51, chapter IX. See also 
note 20, supra. 

33 See note 29, supra. 

3* He evidently refers to the unanimous resolution of the 
Committee — Jonathan Willson, chairman, Edward Burgess, 
Robert Owen, Thomas Cramphin, Jr., Charles G. Griffith, 
Zadock Magruder, Samuel W. Magruder, Gerard Briscoe, 
Archibald Orme, Allen Bowie and Thomas S. Wootton being 
present — of the Lower District of this County of June 17th. 
It appears as follows in The Maryland Gazette (Ann), published 
in Annapolis, of the 20th : " That what may be recommended 
by a majority of Congress ... we will, at the hazard of our 
lives and fortunes, support and maintain j and that every resolu- 

440 



NOTES TO TEXT 

tion of convention, tending to separate this province from a 
majoiity of the colonies, without the consent of the people, is 
destructive to our internal safety, and big with public ruin." 

35 He was present in Congress certainly as late as June 25th ; 
for he signs a letter dated Philadelphia on that day. He was 
not, however, reelected, July 4th ; and the letter from Stone of 
July I2th (See note 51, chapter IX) implies that he had, some- 
time prior thereto^ left for Maryland — doubtless immediately 
following the receipt (See note 29, supra) in Philadelphia of the 
news of the election. 

2^ The following appears in The Virginia Gazette (C) of 
June 2ist: "Monday the ist of July is fixed upon to decide 
the grand question of AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, in 
General Congress." 

^'* See the next paragraph. 

38 The Maryland Journal^ etc., (Ba) (See note 63, chapter III) 
of June 26th contains the following: " QUERIES to the Free- 
men of Maryland, i. Whether the instructions, given by the 
Convention of this Province to the Deputies in Congress, in 
December last, and renewed at the last Convention, ought not 
to be recalled, and the restrictions therein contained, removed ? 
2. Whether this Colony ought not to be united with the other 
Twelve Colonies, represented in Congress, and the Deputies of 
this Colony, authorized and directed to concur with the other 
Deputies in Congress, in declaring the United Colonies, FREE 
and INDEPENDENT STATES . . . ? " 

39 The Scots Magazine (C) — published in Edinburgh — for 
August says : " A letter from on board the Fowey man of war, 
at Maryland, dated July i, after speaking of the great confusion, 
noise, and clamour, in their meetings and councils, on the debates 
of a separation from the mother country, says, ' The whole eight 
eastern-shore counties were against independency ; four of the 
western were for it, and the other four were against : so that 

441 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

in Maryland the division was twelve to four.' " This, how- 
ever, must either be incorrect or refer to the vote in the Con- 
vention of Maryland on May 21st (See p. 68). 

40 See p. 68. 

*i For facsimile^ see The Life and Works of John Adams^ 
vol. 3, p. 56. 

*2 See note 34, supra. The Maryland Gaxette (Ann) of 
June 27th says : " At a very respectable meeting of the asso- 
ciators of Anne-Arundel county, held at West-River on Satur- 
day the twenty-second instant, the following important questions 
were submitted to their consideration . . . 2dly. Whether 
the instructions that were imposed upon the delegates of this 
province in Congress, by the December and continued by the 
May sessions of Convention, should or should not be imme- 
diately rescinded by the present Convention, and the delegates 
in Congress instructed with discretionary powers of exer- 
cising their own judgments upon any question that may come 
under their consideration. Resolved unanimously in the affirma- 
tive . . .*' The resolution of the Upper District of Frederic 
County — "entered into by the two Battalions of this District, 
and many other respectable inhabitants thereof, on the 28th and 
29th of June " — declared that the Convention ought to be dis- 
solved and a new one elected to carry cut the resolve of Congress 
of May 15th and that "we will support the union of the Colonies 
with our Hves and fortunes." Talbot County wished to have 
the old instructions to the Delegates in Congress rescinded and 
the Delegates instructed to concur with the other Colonies " in 
forming such further compacts between the said Colonies, con- 
cluding such treaties with foreign kingdoms, and in adopting 
such other measures as shall be judged necessary for promoting 
the liberty, safety, and interest of America, and defeating the 
schemes and machinations of our enemies . . .'' The Charles 
County instructions — " signed by a great number of the inhabi- 

442 



NOTES TO TEXT 

tants of CHARLES county " — declared, as given in The Mary^ 
land Gazette (Ann) of July 4th, that they earnestly wished them 
" to move for, v^ithout loss of time, and endeavour to obtain 
positive instructions from the convention of Maryland to their 
delegates in congress, immediately to join the other colonies in 
declaring, that the United Colonies no longer owe allegiance to, 
nor are they dependant upon, the crown or parliament of Great- 
Britain, or any other power on earth, but are, for time to come, 
free and independent states . . ." The instructions "drawn up 
by conferees appointed by the several battalions of militia of 
Anne-Arundel county, and afterwards signed by a great number 
of the inhabitants of the county," which appeared in The 
Maryland Gazette (Ann and Ba) of July i8th, charged: "That 
you move for and endeavour to obtain a resolution in Conven- 
tion . . . that the delegates of this colony be authorized and 
directed to concur with the other united colonies, or a majority 
of them, in Congress, in declaring the United Colonies free and 
independent states . . ." 

*3 John Page, of Virginia^ writes, to General Lee, July 1 2th: 
"The Marylanders were roused by the resolve of our Conven- 
tion, and have lectured their Representatives so well, that they 
have unanimously voted for Independence — " 

** It is evident that the people were not unanimous ; for, in 
the middle of June, " Isaac Costin, with many others, went to 
their neighbours' houses, to inform them that Job Ingram and 
Barkley Townsend had come express from Lewistown, to let the 
people of Somerset County know that a large number of men 
were coming from Lewistown to compel them to assent to inde- 
pendency . . . Costin persuaded them to assemble at Merumsco 
Dams to oppose it, and ... in consequence of the said report, 
Isaac Costin, with about two hundred people, did assemble at 
Merumsco Dams for the declared purpose of opposing independ- 
ency." Indeed, see p. 68. 

443 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^^ Not, however, it would seem, so early as Hopkins : see p. 
54, See note 14, chapter III. 

*s He was elected, January 23d. On March 2d, he writes, 
from Philadelphia, to Weare : " I arrived here the 28th ultimo. 
The roads were so extremely bad it was impossible for me to get 
here sooner . . . My colleague [Bartlett] talks of leaving me in 
about a fortnight . . ." He signed the Declaration on parch- 
ment now in the Department of State. See note 115, chapter IX. 

*'' See note 46, supra. He did not return to Philadelphia 
until May 17th, as shown by a letter from him of the 19th to 
Langdon : " Last Friday, I arrived here, all well." 

*^ On July 9th (Also, see note 2, chapter II), Bartlett writes 
to Weare : " As we were so happy as to agree in sentiments 
with our constituents, it gave us the greater pleasure to concur 
with the Delegates of the other Colonies in the enclosed Decla- 
ration . . ." Also, see p. 221. 

^^ Langdon replies from Portsmouth, June 24th (See The 
Historical Maga'z.ine^ N, VI, 239) : " Your kind favor of the 
10'^ I've Reed ... I Hke the Resolutions of Virginia well; 
they ever have been firm as Rocks ; near relations to the Yankees. 
Our Colony no doubt will be for Independence, as I know of 
none who oppose it. Those who did some time since, and had 
like to have overset the Government, (and would most certainly 
have done it, had it not been for a few,) have all been appointed 
to some office, either in the Civil or Military Department, and 
those few who were worthy, entirely left out. Strange conduct 
this, by which the Houses have in great measure lost the confi- 
dence of the people . . . Should I be appointed Agent, I shall 
resign my seat in the House, if Desired by Congress." (For 
the reply to this letter of the 24th, see perhaps p. 221.) 

^^ See note 49, supra.^ and pp. 134 and 270. 

51 Bartlett (in a letter of July ist, to Folsom) says: " [Gz] 
Your favor [See p. 134] of the 15*'' ult° is come to hand I 

444 



NOTES TO TEXT 

am glad to hear that Harmony Subsists in our Colony in the 
Grand american Cause . . . The Resolve of our Colony with re- 
gard to our Conduct in the affair of Independency Came to hand 
on Saturday, very Seasonably, as that Question v^^as agreable to 
order this Day taken up in a Committe of the w^hole House & 
every Colony fully represented j thus much I can inform you that 
it vi^as agreed to in Committe & I make no Doubt but that by 
next post I shall be able to send you a formal Declaration of 
Independency setting forth the reasons &c." 

^2 Also, see p. 44. 

^ See p. 54. 

^ Jefferson writes to William P. Gardner from Monticello, 
February 19, 1813 : "[P] Your favor of the 13^'' has been duly 
received, together with . . . mr Barralet's sketch of the orna- 
ments proposed to accompany the Declaration of Independance 
contemplated by mr Murray and yourself. I am too little versed 
in the art of Design to be able to offer any suggestions to the artist, 
as far as I am a judge, the composition appears to be judicious 
and well imagined, were I to hazard a suggestion it should be 
that mr Hancock, as President of Congress should occupy the 
middle & principal place." See note 3, chapter VI. See p. 49. 

Also, see note 69, chapter IX, though it must be remembered 
that Chase was absent from Congress for some time in 1776. 

^^ See p. 109. 

^^ Also, see a letter from Wolcott of June nth, note 98, 
chapter IX ; and letters from John Adams of June 16th, 17th (?) 
and 24th, note 46, chapter IV, and pp. 128 and 130, respectively. 

^^ Of course. New York was not. 

^^ The Pennsylvania Evening Post (N) of this date contains the 
following by " Republicus " : "Every moment that I reflect on 
our affairs, the more am I convinced of the necessity of a formal 
Declaration of Independance. Reconciliation is thought of now 
by none but knaves, fools and madmen j and as we cannot offer 

445 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

terms of peace to Great-Britain, until, as other nations have done 
before us, we agree to call ourselves by some name, I shall rejoice 
to hear the title of the United States of America, in order that 
we may be on a proper footing to negociate a peace. Besides, 
the conditions of those brave fellows who have fallen into the 
enemy's hands as prisoners, and the risk which every man runs, 
who bears arms either by land or sea in the American cause, 
makes a declaration of independance absolutely necessary, because 
no proper cartel for an exchange of prisoners can take place 
while we remain dependants. It is some degree of comfort to a 
man, taken prisoner, that he belongs to some national power, is 
the subject of some state that will see after him. Oliver 
Cromwell would have sent a memorial as powerful as thunder 
to any King on earth, who dared to have used prisoners in the 
manner which ours have been. What is it that we have done 
in this matter ? Nothing. We were subjects to Great-Britain, 
and must not do these things. Shame on your cowardly souls 
that do them not ! You are not fit to govern. Were Britain 
to make a conquest of America, I would, for my own part, 
choose rather to be conquered as an independant state than as an 
acknowledged rebel. Some foreign powers might interpose for 
us in the first case, but they cannot in the latter, because the 
law of all nations is against us. Besides, the foreign European 
powers will not be long neutral, and unless we declare an inde- 
pendance, and send embassies to seek their friendship, Britain 
will be beforehand with us; for the moment that she finds that 
she cannot make a conquest of America by her own strength, 
she will endeavour to make an European affair of it. Upon the 
whole, we may be benefited by independance, but we cannot be 
hurt by it, and every man that is against it is a traitor." 



See note 14, chapter VI. 



446 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Bishop White, of Christ Church, writes (Sec The Life and 
Times of Bishop White by Julius H. Ward) : " I continued, as did 
all of us, to pray for the King until Sunday [June 30th] before 
the 4th of July, 1776. Within a short time after, I took the 
oath of allegiance to the United States, and have since remained 
faithful to it. My intentions were upright, and most seriously 
weighed." As for Rev. Jacob Duche, see p. 229. 

^9 For the reply to this letter, see Jay^ note 39, chapter IX. 
The reason he did not reply sooner would seem to be his 
absence from New York : see ihid. 



CHAPTER VI 



1 Also, see note 50, chapter VII. 

2 Referring to his letter of August 2d. 

3 He (John Adams) writes to Richard Rush, July 22, i8i6: 
«[Gz;-] 

"Jefferson Is no more my Friend 
Who dares to Independence to pretend 
Which I was born to introduce 
Refin'd it first and Shew'd its Use. 

"... 

"Why is not D"" Rush placed before D"" Franklin in the 
Temple of Fame ? Because Cunning is a more powerful Di- 
vinity than Symplicity. Rush has done infinitely more good to 
America than Franklin. Both have deserved a high Rank among 
Benefactors to their Country and Mankind ; but Rush by far the 
highest . . . James Otis, Sam. Adams, yohn Hancock William 
Livingston, John Dickinson, Richard Henry Lee and his 
Brothers and John Rutledge, &c &c &c have been plundered 
of their Merits Services Sacrifices and Suffererings and all have 
been conferred on Washington Hamilton and Ames ... If you 

447 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

ever met with more Absurdity, Nonsense, Contradiction Envy 
Malice and Vanity in two Pages and an half I pray you to com- 
municate where it is to be found to John Adams P. S. Look 
in the Journal of Congress 1774 for the Declaration of the 
Rights of the Colonies, and in the Journal of 1776. Month 
of May for a Resolution of Independency. Then consider 
Whether the Declaration of Independence of 4 July 1776 is 
any thing more than a juvenile declamation founded on those 
two Documents. Yet those two documents were drawn by the 
Fingers which now trembling write the Name of John Adams 
. . . P. S. Your Father was correct. In 1775 and 1776 I 
was considered by the Quakers and Proprietarians and by a 
Majority of the Whiggs of Pensylvania, as a Monster, who 
advocated Independence." 

* Jefferson was doubtless ignorant of Adams' Autobiography, 
This, as seen, was written in 1805 — seventeen years previous 
to the letter to Pickering. Also, see note 3, supra^ and note 50, 
chapter VII. 

^ Also, see his letter of July ist to Fleming, note 3, chapter 
VII. 

^ It was evidently submitted to Adams first : see Appendix^ 
notes 48, 54,65, 68, 81 and 88. Indeed, see Appendix^ note 55. 

'^ Franklin writes to Washington, Ju ne 2 1 st : " [N ; — '] I am j ust 
recovering from a severe Fit of the Gout, which has kept me from 
Congress ^ Company almost ever since you left us [June 5th], 
so that I know little of what has pass'd there, except that a 
Declaration of Independence is preparing." (He had been in 
bad health for some time: see notes 117 and 24, chapters III 
and V, respectively.) 

^ See between pp. 144 and 145. 

^ Also, see Appendix^ p. 345. The papers of Jefferson were 
purchased of Thomas Jefferson Randolph, his executor, for ;^20,- 
000: see Act of Congress of August 12, 1848. The original 

448 



NOTES TO TEXT 

" Rough draught " is now (framed) in the cabinet (See p. 292) 
on the east wall of the Library of the Department of State. 
10 See between pp. 144 and 145 and Appendix^ note 48. 

% 

On March 17, 181 7, Joseph Delaplalne wrote to Jefferson 
as follows : " [S] When I was with you [in June last] my Notes 
in my memorandum books ran thus, after you showed me the 
original draft of the Declaration of Independence — '. . . a 
committee of five were appointed to draft a declaration — Com- 
mittee desired M' Jefferson to pen it. M' Adams & D"" Franklin 
looked at it. — M' Adams inserted ' time after such dissolutions \ 
in lieu the ^ invasion of the rights of the people ' Here my Notes 
appear confused, & I think I am not correct. — D' Franklin ' but 
Scotch & foreign mercenaries to invade & deluge us in bloody' Sc 
inserted ' destroy us,' in lieu. M"" Adams defended it with all his 

might throughout Except the correction above stated, M' 

Jefferson penned every word of the orig^ draft of the Dec : of 
Independence.* — Thus far my Notes. I beg you to set me 
right. If I am wrong & I believe I am with regard to the altera- 
tion made by M' Adams But I believe I am correct as to the 
alteration made by D"; Franklin [.] '' 

Jefferson replied, April 12th: " [P] your statements of the 
corrections of the Declaration of Independance by D"" Franklin 
and mr Adams, are neither of them at all exact. I should 
think it better to say generally that the rough draught was com- 
municated to those two gentlemen, who, each of them made 
2. or 3. short and verbal alterations only, but even this is laying 
more stress on mere composition than it merits, for that alone 
was mine ; the sentiments were of all America." 

^^ This would seem to indicate that no changes were made 
after submitting the (" Rough ") draft to Adams and to Franklin, 
See, however, Appendix^ note 48. 

29 449 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

12 We cannot find any trace of this copy: See notes 38 and 
81, chapters VII and IX, respectively, and Appendix^ p. 345. 

13 See, however. Appendix^ p. 344. 

1* Moncure Daniel Conway — seemingly (still) considering 
" A Dialogue Between the Ghost of General Montgomery just 
arrived from the Elysian Fields ; and an American Delegate, in 
a wood near Philadelphia" (See The Writings of Thomas Paine^ 
collected and edited by Conway, vol. i, p. 161), in which the 
"Ghost" speaks strongly in favor of independence and which, 
Conway says (See ibid.^ note), was "Printed in pamphlet form 
about the time of the appointment by Congress of a Committee 
to draft a Declaration of Independence" — says (See The Life of 
Thomas Paine ^ etc., vol. i, p. 80) : "At this time Paine saw 
much of Jefferson, and there can be little doubt that the anti- 
slavery clause struck out of the Declaration was written by 
Paine, or by some one who had Paine's anti-slavery essay before 
him." 

To substantiate his statement, he places the " anti-slavery 
clause " and extracts from " Paine's anti-slavery essay " in con- 
current columns. 

Whether or not the statement is justified must always, so far 
as the concurrent columns are concerned, of course, remain a 
subject of individual opinion. 

In considering the question, no one should lose sight, how- 
ever, of the following facts : that Jefferson did not attend Con- 
gress until June 21, 1775, was absent during the recess from 
August 1st to September 5th and returned again to Virginia be- 
fore the end of the year; that he did not come to Philadelphia 
in 1776 until May 14th; that the extracts quoted in the con- 
current column are not from " A Dialogue ", etc., but from a 
communication from "A. B." in the Supplement to The Pennsyl- 
vania Journal^ etc., (PH) — published in Philadelphia — of 
March 8, 1775, before Jefferson came to Congress at all; and 

450 



NOTES TO TEXT 

that Common Sense appeared, January lo, 1776, and that Paine 
himself writes (See The IVritings^ Qtc.^ vol. i, p. 214, note): 
"In this state of political suspense the pamphlet Common Sense 
made its appearance, and the success it met with does not be- 
come me to mention. Dr. Franklin, Mr. Samuel and John 
Adams, were severally spoken of as the supposed author. I 
had not, at that time, the pleasure either of personally know- 
ing or being known to the two last gentlemen [who had been 
much more regular in their attendance upon Congress than 
Jefferson]. The favour of Dr. Franklin's friendship I possessed 
in England . . ." 

Conway does not say upon what he bases his statement that 
" At this time Paine saw much of JefFerson ". 

Also, " Paine's anti-slavery essay " should be read in its en- 
tirety (See The Writings,, etc., vol. i, p. 4), rather than merely 
the extracts given in The Life,, etc. 

15 See p. 178. 

1^ Jefferson himself, in a letter to Augustus B. Woodward, 
written at Monticello, April 3, 1825, ^^ appears from what 
seems to be the original draft, (formerly in the Department of 
State) now in the Library of Congress, says : " the history to 
the Preamble to the latter [the Constitution] is this. I was then 
at Philadelphia at Congress ; and knowing that the Convention 
of Virginia was engaged in forming a Plan of government, I 
turned my mind to the same subject, and drew a sketch or out- 
line of a constitution, with a preamble, which I sent to mr Pen- 
dleton, president of the Convention, on the mere possibility that 
it might suggest something worth incorporation into that before 
the Convention. He [Jefferson's memory was evidently at fault : 
see p. 148] informed me afterwards by letter that he received it 
on the day on which the Committee of the whole had reported 
to the House the plan they had agreed to, that that had been so 
long in hand, so disputed inch by inch, and the subject of so 

451 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

much altercation and debate, that they were worried with the con- 
tentions it had produced, and could not, from mere lassitude, have 
been induced to open the instrument again; but that, being 
pleased with the Preamble to mine, they adopted it in the House 
by way of amendment to the Report of the Committee; and 
thus my Preamble became tacked to the work of George Mason, 
the Constitution, with the preamble, was passed on the 29*^ of 
June, and the Commee of Congress had only the day before that 
reported to that body the Draught of the Declaration of Independ- 
ance. the fact is that that preamble was prior in composition 
to the Declaration, and both having the same object, of justifying 
our separation from Great Britain, they used necessarily the same 
materials of justification : and hence their similitude." 

17 See note 27, post. 

1^ It must be borne in mind that only the resolution relating 
to independence is given on pp. 78 and 79. See, however, 
between pp. 80 and 81. 

# 

On May 24th, Pendleton writes to Jefferson: "[S] You'l 
have seen yf Instructions to propose Independance and our reso- 
lutions to form a Government. The Political Cooks are busy 
in preparing the dish, and as Col"? Mason seems to have the 
ascendency in the great work, I have Sanguine hopes it will be 
framed so as to Answer its end . . ." 

1^ See note 3, chapter VII. 

20 This might create a doubt as to Harrison's presence in Con- 
gress on August 2d ; but John Adams' debates show that he spoke 
on that day. Indeed, Jefferson writes from Philadelphia^ August 
pth : " [K] As Col. Harrison was about to have some things 
packed, I set out upon the execution of your glass commission " ; 
and at the bottom of the letter is : " Francis Eppes, Esq., At 
the Forest, By favor of Col. Harrison." 

452 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Harrison writes from " [N] Virg* Sep! 5* 1776" to Robert 
Morris : " I wrote you by last post . . . The ease and tranquility 
I enjoy here, and the Company of my Friends and Family, have 
removed those alarming Pains in the Head that afflicted me in 
Philad^ and I am in perfect Health vv^hlch I know will give you 
Pleasure I have not even a Wish to return again into Public 
Business, except such as arise from Friendship, I often think on 
the Happy Hours I have spent in the agreeable Society of your 
Pleasant Villa, and if any thing carries me again into the Buisy 
Scenes of Politics it will be the Hopes of renewing my acquaint- 
ance with those Worthy Friends that surround that Hospitable 
Board ... I am happy to find my Removal [See note 3, chap- 
ter VH] has given great Disgust to the Worthy part of my 
Country of all Degrees and Conditions, and I make not the least 
Doubt of their shewing a Proper Resentment when Opp^ offers — '* 

21 See Annals^ etc. ; also The Historic Mansions and Buildings 
of Philadelphia by Thompson Westcott ; and also, most particu- 
larly. The House^ etc., by Thomas Donaldson. 

Aside from the house mentioned in the text, the places claimed 
to be the place where Jefferson lived at the time he wrote the 
Declaration are the Indian Queen Inn, once located (but torn 
down in May, 1851) on the west side of Fourth Street, above 
Chestnut and near Market Street, it is stated ; the brick building 
known as Kelly's Oyster House (For a photograph, see The House^ 
etc., facing p. 62), Nos. 8 and 10 South Seventh Street, now 
just in the rear of the building occupied by the Penn National 
Bank, it is stated ; the brick building (For a picture of it in 
1776 — though see p. 154 — , see Potter's^ etc., for May, 1876, 
p. 381; and, in 1883, The House^ etc., facing p. 74), known 
at different times as No. 232 High Street and as No. 702 Market 
Street, torn down in February and March, 1883, ^^ ^^ stated — 
the site of which is now occupied by a part of the western half 

453 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

of the building used by the Penn National Bank j and the house 
mentioned in note 22, post. 

22 George Ticknor Curtis, in Life of Daniel Webster^ says that 
Webster visited Jefferson at Monticello in December, 182^, 
and gives a number of notes of things Jefferson then said, among 
which is the following : "(In reply to a question of Mr. Webster.) 
The Declaration of Independence was written in a house on the 
north side of Chestnut Street, between Third and Fourth — not 
a corner house. Heiskell's Tavern, in Fourth street, has been 
shown for it — (to Mr. Webster) — but this is not the house." 
As to the notes themselves, he (Curtis) gives the following state- 
ment (furnished to him, he says, on May i, 1869, by the lady 
— then in Boston — who accompanied Webster on his visit): 
" They were written down, on the very evening on which we 
left Monticello, at a little tavern kept by a Mrs. Clark, where we 
stopped for the night . . . chiefly by Mrs. Ticknor, under the 
dictation of Mr. Webster and Mr. Ticknor ... a sort of joint- 
stock contribution." 

23 Taken from what is evidently the original draft (formerly 
in the Department of State) now in the Library of Congress. 

2* Just when he moved to " Graaf's " (as well as when he left 
home ; when he arrived in Philadelphia ; where he lodged before 
so moving ; and various other interesting facts) is shown by what 
is known as his " Account Book ". This is The Philadelphia 
Newest Almanack^ For the Tear of our Lord iyy6^ etc., printed by 
Aitken — the entries, in Jefferson's own hand, being on pages 
left blank for the purpose. This shows as follows (and 
otherwise) : 

[Ms] May. 

7. 

set out for Philadelphia. 

got to Philadelphia. 
23. took lodgings at Graaf's. 
454 



NOTES TO TEXT 

7- 

p"^ Randolph [See note 46, post"] for 8. days 

lodging 40/ 
pd for a Relisher at Clarke's 2/ 
28. /.^fora Doll 2/ 



June. I , 



25. 



for seeing a monkey 1/ 



pd Graaf one week's lodging 35/ 

7. /^ at Smith's dinner etc 5/6 
/>^ for shoes for Bob. 8/ 

8. pd ferrge for horses 4. 

9. pd iox 7 washballs 10/6 
/^ for stockings for Bob. 7/ 

/>^ mfs Graaf one week's lodging 35/ 
I o. pd dinner at Smith' s 6/ 
II. pd for Window shutter rings ^ i-i 8-2 
13. ^y dinner at Smith's 6/ 

17. />i dinner at Smith's 7/6 

1 8. pd for a nest of trunks ']\(i 
pd dinner at Smith's 6/6 

19. pd King for handling six spring bolts 30/ 
pd Greentree for wine 6/ 

pd Fox for 2 knives for myself 1 8/9 

for I . d"! for R. Harvie i 2/6 

20. pd dinner at Smith's 7/ 

pd Hugh Walker for waggonage of sundries last 

winter to head of Elk 27/6 
p** Aitkin for lining a map 5/ 

22. p*^ dinner at Smith's ']\(i 

p'^ Sparhawk for pr spurs 25/ 

23. pd Graaf 2. weeks lodging etc ;£" 3— 10. 

24. pd dinner at Smith's 5/6 



pd dinner at Smith's 5/ 
pd for a straw hat 10/ 
455 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

27. pd Byrne for 6 weeks shaving & dressing 30/ 

28. pd mfs Lovemore washing in full 39/9 

30. pd Sparhawk for a pencil 1/6 a map 7/6 
pd Dinner at Smith's 8/6 

31. pd expences riding 2/4 
July I . pd ferfge of horses 8"^ 

3. pd Towne for Doctor Gilmer 7/6 
pd d? for myself jfG 

pd Smith in full 15/6 

4. pd Sparhawk for a thermometer ^ 3—1 5 
pd for 7 pr women's gloves 27/ 

gave in charity 1/6 

5. pd for a quire of paper 2/6 

6. pd mr Braxton for 4 pr cotton cards 48/ 
pd for pamphlets 6/ 
pd for beer 1/ 



Aug. 



Sep. 



29. 



pd Hiltzheimer in full to tomorrow ^^ i i-i 5-6 
pd mfs Graaf in full to this day ^ 6—5 

left Philadelphia 



(We know that Jefferson bought a " German Grammar " on 
August 3d.) 

2^ For a picture (?), see History of Philadelphia by J. Thomas 
Scharf and Thompson Westcott, vol. i, p. 320, The Declaration 
of Independence by William H. Michael, facing p. 4, and The 
House^ etc., by Donaldson, Frontispiece, 

^ This was changed from a 5. 

2" JefFerson writes, to Nelson from Philadelphia, May 17, 1776 
(though the letter was not sent until on or after the 19th): 
"[T; — ] I arrived here last Tuesday [the 14th] after being 
detained hence six weeks longer than I intended by a malady 

456 



NOTES TO TEXT 

of which Gilmer can inform you , . . should our Convention 
propose to establish now a form of government perhaps it might 
be agreeable to recall for a short time their delegates, it is a 
work of the most interesting nature and such as every individual 
would wish to have his voice in. in truth it is the whole object 
of the present controversy; for should a bad government be in- 
stituted for us in future it had been as well to have accepted at 
first the bad one offered to us from beyond the water without 
the risk & expence of contest, but this I mention to you in 
confidence, as in our situation, a hint to any other is too delicate 
however anxiously interesting the subject is to our feelings . . . 
I am at present in our old lodgings tho' I think, as the excessive 
heats of the city are coming on fast, to endeavour to get lodgings 
in the skirts of the town where I may have the benefit of a freely 
circulating air ... 1 am here in the same uneasy anxious state 
in which I was last fall without mfs Jefferson who could not come 
with me. I wish much to see you here, yet hope you will contrive 
to bring on as early as you can in convention the great questions 
of the session. I suppose they will tell us what to say on the 
subject of independence, but hope respect will be expressed to 
the right of opinion in other colonies who may happen to differ 
from them, when at home I took great pains to enquire into 
the sentiments of the people on that head, in the upper counties 
I think I may safely say nine out of ten are for it. P. S. in 
the other colonies who have instituted government they recalled 
their delegates leaving only one or two to give information to Con- 
gress of matters which relate to their country particularly, & 
giving them a vote during the interval of absence." 

See note 24, supra. 

23 This postscript appears at the bottom of what, as stated, 
is evidently the original draft of the letter. It is in Jefferson's 
handwriting, and was added evidently after he had made a clean 
copy of the letter to send but before sending it. 

457 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

29 This is evidenced by the addition by Jefferson of the " fol- 
lowing " — headed : " Th : Jefferson to D' Mease. Monticello. 
Sep. 20." — to what, as stated, is evidently the original draft of 
his letter of the i6th, below the copy of the postscript thereto. 

30 See note 29, supra, 

21 What we consider the original draft of Jefferson's letter of 
the 1 6th, the copy of the postscript thereto, the copy of his letter 
of the 20th and this note are on one page. (See The Declara- 
tion of Independence by Michael, between pp. 4 and 5.) 

32 It will readily be seen that this agrees with Jefferson's own 
statement. The " N. E. corner house " " of it's square " would, 
of course, be " at the S. W. corner of Market and 7* streets ". 

33 Thomas Donaldson, in speaking of this, says (See The House^ 
etc.) : " I confirmed the correctness of the above in March, 
1883, while the building No. 700 Market street was being de- 
molished. The bricks in the space of the original side door on 
Seventh street were of a different kind from those in the body 
of the building. The dimensions of the two second story rooms 
were about 48 feet 9 inches by 14 feet 6 inches. The joists 
filling in the original hallway (stairs) were of another kind than 
those of the rest of the floor. The Gratz brothers, Simon and 
Hyman, who bought the house No. 230 High street, afterward 
No. 700 Market street, and also Nos. 232 High street and 234 
High street, afterward Nos. 702 and 704 Market street, all 
adjoining in 1798, added the fourth story to No. 230 High 
street (No. 700 Market street) the Declaration house and to the 
others. They also walled up the side entrance door of No. 
700 Market street the house in which Mr. Jefferson wrote the 
Declaration of Independence, and removed the cross stairway. 
An entrance to the second story was afterwards placed in the 
south end of the building on Seventh street and this remained 
until 1883. There was, at one time, a stairway to the second, 
third and fourth floors from Market street and on the west side 

45S 



NOTES TO TEXT 

of the building. The joists were cut all the way up and the 
old trimmer was In sight in 1883. ^^^^ ^ front stairway was 
common to stores on Market street in early days." 

Indeed, in The Philadelphia Directory for i^pi-, we find that 
Jacob Hiltzheimer (who owned what Is here referred to as " No. 
230 High street, afterward No. 700 Market street " before 
Simon and Hyman Gratz : see note 43, post) then resided at 
No. I South Seventh Street. 

24 A picture (?) of the house In 1852 Is to be found in History 
of Philadelphia by Scharf and Westcott, p. 309 (and in The House ^ 
etc., by Donaldson, facing p. 66); and photographs of it in 1854 
and 1857, in The House^ etc., facing pp. 68 and 70, respectively. 

^ It will be remembered that Mease says that GraiF told him 
the same thing in 1825. 

36 For a sketch of the house at this time, see Harper's Weekly of 
April 14, 1883 (and The House^Qtc.^ by Donaldson, facing p. yS). 

2^ Only a little over half of the bronze tablet placed to mark 
the spot and now on the front of the building occupied by the 
Penn National Bank (For a photograph, see The House^ etc., by 
Donaldson, facing p. 92) rests over the lot formerly occupied by 
the house in which Jefferson lived — the remaining portion being 
over the lot of a house, known at different times as No. 232 
High Street and No. 702 Market Street, built in 1796. 

38 See The House^ etc., by Donaldson. 

2^ For 2i facsimile of the bill, see The House^ etc., by Donald- 
son, facing p. 80. 

^ For a photograph, see The House^ etc., by Donaldson, p. 94. 

4^ Thomas Blaine Donaldson, son of Thomas C. Donaldson, 
deceased, writes us, however, under date of January 23, 1901 : 
" The lot, on which the rough material of the house lay for 
many years, was next to a house which we own at 877 Preston 
Street, West Philadelphia . . . Last summer, a year, 1899, I 
had the lot stripped of wagon loads of trash until the Jefferson 

459 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

House material was uncovered. To our dismay, we found that 
vandals had carried off much of good and bad. The corner 
closet was not there, neither were the stairs and rails. All that 
we now have is in our back yard at 326 N. 39 Street. It simply 
includes some frames, short joists and yet, best of all, a number 
of the stone keystone caps which you will notice over the win- 
dows . . . They are white stone and about 5 feet long." 

*2 He very likely here refers to " Where the Declaration of 
Independence was written", in Potter's^ etc., (C and N) for 
May, 1876. 

At least, this claims to prove that "No. 702" and not " No. 
700 " was built first and that, therefore, " No. 702 " was the 
house in which JefFerson lived. 

We cannot, however, agree with the writer's deductions. 

The facts (of record) which he gives seem to us to be wholly 
consistent with Donaldson's claim (and with the supporting evi- 
dence of the facts given in note 43, post^. 

They are as follows : 

On June i, iJJS-> Edmund Physick and wife deeded to Jacob 
Graff, Jr., " ' Bricklayer ' ", certain land on the " ' South Side 
of High Street and on the West Side of the seventh Street from 
delaware . . . Containing in breadth on High Street aforesaid 
thirty two foot and in length or depth on the West Side of 
Seventh Street aforesaid One hundred and twenty four foot 
Bounded on the East by seventh street aforesaid on the South 
by a certain ten foot Alley extending one hundred and four feet 
in depth from Seventh Street aforesaid on the West by Ground 
of Hannah Flower and on the North by High Street aforesaid.' " 

Graff,on July 24, 1777, sold the same land to Jacob Hiltzheimer 
(See note 43, post)^ " ' Yeoman ' ", and, in the deed, said : " ' And 
Whereas the said Jacob Graff hath erected a Brick Messuage or 
Tenement on the said described Lot or piece of Ground.' " 

Hiltzheimer died intestate in 1801, leaving surviving him two 

460 



m 



NOTES TO TEXT 

sons and three daughters. His estate was, therefore, divided into 
five equal parts. 

" ' One other like equal fifth part thereof in value to w^it all 
that three story Messuage or Tenement and Lot or piece of 
ground thereto belonging marked in the aforesaid plan N° i 
situate on the south side of High street and West side of 
Delaware Seventh Street in the said City containing in Breadth 
east & west i6 feet & 8 inches and in length or depth North 
and South 90 feet Bounded westward by the Store and Lot 
marked N° 2 hereinbefore [hereinafter] assigned to Thomas W. 
Hiltzheimer,' " went to Mary Rodgers. 

" ' One other equal fifth part In value to wit. All that three 
Story Tenement or Store and Lot or piece of Ground thereto 
belonging marked in the plan hereto annexed N° 2 situate on the 
south side of High Street at the distance of 16 feet 8 inches 
Westward from Delaware Seventh Street in the said city con- 
taining in breadth East and West fifteen feet and four inches 
and in length or depth North and South 90 feet bounded East- 
ward by the Messuage and Ground herein after [hereinbefore] 
allotted to Mary Rodgers Southward partly by a four feet wide 
Alley and partley by ground herein after allotted to Catherine 
Cox,'" went to Thomas W. Hiltzheimer. 

Within eight months after this, Thomas W. Hiltzheimer be- 
came a bankrupt ; and, on March 26, 1802, the assignees sold to 
Simon Gratz "'A Certain Three Story Messuage or Store and 
Lot or piece of ground Situate on the South side of High Street 
in the City of Philadelphia Containing in breadth fifteen feet 
four inches and in length or depth Ninety feet bounded East- 
ward by a Messuage and Lot of Ground belonging to the said 
Simon Gratz . . .' " 

Gratz had " already acquired by marriage " " No. 700 Market 
street ". 

*3 We have other proof that ^' No. 702 Market street" 

461 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

was not built until after " No. 700 Market street ", viz., " [Sh] 
. . . the following entries in the private diary (manuscript) of 
Jacob Obillzheimer [Hiltzheimer], who bought the house at the 
southwest corner of Seventh and Market Streets in 1777: '1796, 
January lo. Cloudy forenoon. Edward Wells came to see 
me; conversed with each other concerning the house he is to 
build for me next spring, in Market Street, adjoining the south- 
west corner of Seventh and Market Streets.' '1796, April 11 
. . . Mr. Barge laid the foundation-stone at the house I am 
going to build adjoining the southwest corner of Seventh and 
Market Streets.'" 

Also, see note 33, supra. 

% 

The fact that Hiltzheimer here speaks of what was to become 
known as No. 232 High Street (afterward No. 702 Market Street) 
as a "house" and that in 1801 (See note 42, supra) the building 
upon the lot next to the corner was a " Tenement or Store ", we 
think, does not prove that they were not the same. Indeed, the 
same private diary (manuscript) says (also) : " [Sh] ' 1796, July 9 
. . . Had the raising supper on the second floor of the house ad- 
joining the house at the southwest corner of Market and Seventh 
Streets, which was begun in April last, intended for a store.' " 

** Ofcourse, we refer hereto the "Rough draught". He doubt- 
less wrote upon this desk also all of the other drafts which he made. 

^^ It was at the Exposition at Buffalo in 1901. 

For a picture of it, see The Declaration of Independence by 
Michael, between pp. 6 and 7. 

*^ According to Jefferson's " Account Book " (See note 24, 
supra)^ which ought, we think, to be considered better evidence 
than this letter, he lodged first with Rand^//)^ — at his old quar- 
ters (See note 27, supra), 

*7 See note 118, chapter III. 

*^ See The Declaration of Independence by Michael, facing p. 8. 

462 



m 



NOTES TO TEXT 

*9 As to whether or not R. R. Livingston was present, see note 
15, chapter VIII. 

^0 See note 12, supra. The three drafts {d^ e andy) given 
In the Appendix^ p. 306, or perhaps more particularly the draft 
(See Appendix^ p. 344) sent to R. H. Lee, however, show the 
wording of this draft. 



CHAPTER VII 

^ See note 24, chapter VI. 

2 There is a paper (See facing p. 164) (formerly in the Depart- 
ment of State) in the Library of Congress which, without doubt, is the 
original of this resolution (with the votes in Congress on July 2d—^ 
in the handwriting of Hancock — endorsed thereon). The resolu- 
tion is in the handwriting of Thomson and reads (with the endorse- 
ments, of which certainly also " The resolution for independancy 
Agreed to July 24 1776 " is in his handwriting) as follows : 

[8] The Com^? of the whole Congrefs to whom was referred the refolu- 
tion and-Fe^e the Declaration refpecting independence. — ■ 

united 

Refolved That thefe^colonies are and of right 

ought to be free and independant Hates; 
that they are absolved from all allegiance 
to the britilh crown and that all political 
connection between them and the state of 
great Britain is and ought to be totally 
difsolved 

* , « July 2- 1776. 

July Report &c. "^ ^ " 



N?5 J 



\ The resolution for sj 8 n n ^' g- 3 -^r § -""S w 



independancy 

Agreed to July 2? 1776 



3 {2. 



(The last line under " A " is blurred. New York, it will be 
remembered, did not vote.) 

463 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^ Jefferson, in a letter of this date to William Fleming, says : 
*' [M] Your's of 22d. June came to hand this morning . . . 
General Howe with some ships (we know not how many) is 
arrived at the Hook, and, as is said, has landed some horse on 
the Jersey shore ... I wish you had depended on yourself 
rather than others for giving me an account of the late nomination 
[on June 20th] of delegates. I have no other state of it but the 
number of votes for each person, the omission of Harrison and 
Braxton and my being next to the lag give me some alarm, it 
is a painful situation to be 300. miles from one's country, and 
thereby open to secret assassination without a possibility of self- 
defence. I am willing to hope nothing of this kind has been 
done in my case, and yet I cannot be easy, if any doubt has 
arisen as to me, my country will have my political creed in the 
form of a ' Declaration ' &c. which I was lately directed to draw, 
this will give decisive proof that my own sentiment concurred 
with the vote they instructed us to give, had the post been to go 
a day later we might have been at liberty [See note 5, post]^ to 
communicate this whole matter. July. 2. I have kept open my 
letter till this morning but nothing more new." 

The letter of Fleming (referred to) — written at Williamsburg 
at 3 o'clock in the afternoon — says simply : "[S] As some of your 
friends have, no doubt, given you a history of our late election 
of delegates to serve in congress, & of the spirit (evil spirit I had 
almost said) and general proceedings of our convention, I shall, 
for the present, forbear any animadversions thereon . . ." 

In replying to JefFerson, however, from Mt. Pleasant, July 
27th, he says : " [S] . . . the reduction of the number to five was 
on motion of the governor, ' first to save expense, and secondly, 
that we might have the assistance of the two supernumeraries in 
our own government, where gentlemen of abilities are much 
wanting.' It met with little or no opposition. The appoint- 
ment of D: Rickman physician & director general to the con- 

464 



NOTES TO TEXT 

tinental hospital, when M": Clurg, a native & regular bred 
physician, had been recommended by the committee of safety, 
& by geni Lee, gave very great offence, and was undoubtedly 
the cause of col"! Harrisons being left out, as it was generally 
supposed Rickman's appointment was through his influence. — 
M' Braxton's address on government made him no friends in 
convention ; and many reports were propagated in W'-burg 
(upon what grounds I know not) respecting the extreme impru- 
dent, and inimical conduct of his lady, which, with many people, 
affected his political character exceedingly ... As to your own 
case, you may make yourself perfectly easie, for you are as high 
in the estimation of your countrymen as ever, and the reason you 
were so late in the nomination was the mention of a letter you 
had written to D^ Gilmer, signifying your inclination to resign. 
He was out of town at the time of nomination, but desired 
another gentleman, if the matter came on in his absence, to in- 
form the house he had received such a letter, which he accord- 
ingly did, and thereupon arose a debate whether or not your 
excuse should be admitted, some were of opinion you were jest- 
ing, & some that you were in earnest, and after near half an 
hour debate, they proceeded to ballot without a question being 
put, and many of your warmest friends (myself among the rest) 
erased your name out of their ballots, taking it for granted that 
your services in congress were to be dispensed with, as the oppo- 
sition grew faint toward the latter end of the debate. Had it not 
been for these circumstances, I much doubt whether there would 
have been three votes against you. Your letter to the president on 
the same subject [See The History of Virginia^ etc., by John Burk 
(continued by Skelton Jones and Louis Hue Girardin), vol. 4, 
Appendix'] appeared the next day, which would have been effectual, 
had it arrived in time ; but as the nominations wer[e] over the 
house did not seem inclined to a new election . . ," 
Also, see p. 215. 

30 465 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Pendleton writes, August loth, to Jefferson : " [S] I . . . Assent 
. , . readily ... to your usefulness in the Representative body, 
where having the Pleasure of M'.' Jefferson's Company [See 
note 27, chapter VI], I hope you '1 get cured of y\ wish to 
retire so early in life, from the memory of man, & exercise Yf 
talents . . ." 

if 

For a letter of Bartlett (of July ist), see note 51, chapter V. 

* See note 32, chapter VIII. 

^ John Adams writes to M:Kean from Quincy, July 30, 
1815 : "[QyC] The most essential . . . debates & delibera- 
tions in Congress from 1774 to 1783 vi^ere all in secret, and 
are now lost forever. Mr Dickenson printed [He doubtless 
refers to Dickinson's "Vindication", Appendix^ p. 353] a speech 
which he said he made in Congress against the declaration of 
Independence ; but it appeared to me very different from that 
which you and I heard. Dr Witherspoon has published [See 
note 34, chapter III (?)] speeches, which he wrote before hand, 
and delivered Memoriter, as he did his sermons. But these I 
believe are the only speeches ever committed to writing. The 
orators, while I was in Congress from 1774 to 1778 appeared 
to me very universally extemporaneous, & I have never heard 
of any committed to writing before or after delivery." 

He sent at the same time a similar letter to Jefferson. 

Jefferson replied, August loth : " [P] On the subject of the 
history of the American revolution, you ask who shall write it ? 
who can write it ? and who ever will be able to write it ? 
nobody ; except merely it's external facts, all it's councils, 
designs, and discussions having been conducted by Congress 
with closed doors, and no member, as far as I know, having 
even made notes of them. These, which are the life and soul 
of history must forever be unknown ... I have said that no 
member of the old Congress, as far as I know, made notes of 

466 



NOTES TO TEXT 

the discussions. I did not know of the speeches you mention 
of Dickinson and Witherspoon. but on the questions of Inde- 
pendance [on June 8th and lOth] and on the two articles of 
Confederation respectively taxes & voting I took minutes [See 
Appendix^ p. 295] of the heads of arguments, on the first I 
threw all into one mass, without ascribing to the speakers their 
respective arguments . . . but the whole of my notes on the 
question of independance does not occupy more than 5 pages, 
such as of this letter . . . they have never been communicated 
to anyone [His memory was at fault: see Appendix^ p. 352]." 

Jefferson failed to take any notes of this final debate in the 
committee of the whole^ probably because of his notes of the debate 
in June. 

Why we do not find accounts of the debates in private cor- 
respondence is shown by the secret domestic Journal, for November 
9, 1775 : " [S] Resolved That every member of this Congress 
considers himself under the ties of virtue honor and love of his 
country not to divulge directly or indirectly any matter or thing 
agitated or debated in Congress before the same shall have been 
determined without leave of the Congress j nor any matter or 
thing determined in Congress, which a majority of the Congress 
shall order to be kept secret . . ." 

6 There would seem to be no doubt that he believed firmly in 
what he said. (See p. 38 ; note 23, chapter IV ; note 8, post j 
and his ''Vindication", Appendix^ p. 353.) Indeed, on August 
loth, he writes, from Elizabethtown, to Charles Thomson : " [E] 
As for myself, I can form no idea of a more noble fate than . . . 
after cheerfully and deliberately sacrificing my popularity and all 
the emoluments I might certainly have derived from it to principle 
. . . than willingly to resign my life, if Divine Providence shall 
please so to dispose of me, for the defence [See Appendix,, p. 358] 
and happiness of those unkind countrymen whom I cannot for- 
bear to esteem as fellow-citizens amidst their fury against me " j 

467 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

and Thomson replies, from Summerville, August i6th : " [E] I 
know the rectitude of your heart and the honesty and upright- 
ness of your intentions . . . Consider, I beseech you, and do 
justice to your ' unkind countrymen.' They did not desert you. 
You left them. Possibly they were wrong in quickening their 
march and advancing to the goal with such rapid speed. They 
thought they were right, and the only ' fury ' they showed against 
you was to choose other leaders [See p. 192] to conduct them." 
Also, see pp. 38 and 191. 

7 See Appendix^ p. 353 (and note ^^ supra), 

^ Bancroft says that Adams spoke first. 

It seems very likely that Bancroft based his statement upon 
the following (beginning on page 79 of what is entitled " [Rid] 
Anecdotes — facts Characters &c.") in the handwriting of Rush 
(who, however, we must remember, was not present) : " M' Jn° 
Dickinson possessed great political integrity in every stage of the 
controversy, but wanted political fortitude. In the debates upon 
the declaration of Independance M; Jn° Adams began a Speech 
by invoking the God of Eloquence to inspire him upon such a 
copious Subject. M'' Dickinson began a reply to M"" Adaftis's 
Speech in the following words. ' The Gentleman who spoke 
last began by invoking a heathen God. I shall introduce what 
I have to say by humbly invoking the God of heaven & earth to 
inspire me with the knowledge & love of truth, and if what I 
am about to say in opposition to the declaration of Independance 
should be injurious in any degree to my country, I pray God to 
overrule my Arguments, and to direct us to such a decision upon 
this weighty question as Shall be most for the interest & happi- 
ness of the people committed to our care.' — I know added he 
further — that the tide of the prejudices & passions of the people 
at large is strongly in favor of Independance. I know too that 
I have acquired a character, and some popularity with them both 
of which I shall risk by opposing this favorite measure. But I 

468 



NOTES TO TEXT 

had rather risk both, than Speak, or vote contrary to the dictates 
of my judgement and conscience ', — " 
^ See note 5, supra. 

1^ See note 13, chapter V. 

^^ This seems curious, in view of his opposition to the measure 
(See p. 116) : but see p. 163. 

12 The last tvi^o sentences, in view of the fact that they are 
written very closely between the preceding and what follows (not 
given in the text), we think, were evidently an afterthought. 

^^ See The Revolution of America by Abbe Raynal. 

^^ These would seem to disprove the statement, in his letter 
to Mercy Warren and in his Autobiography.^ that he thought there 
would be no debate. See p. 348. 

1^ See p. 131. 

16 See, to the same effect, a letter of Samuel Adams, p. 223. 

17 For Chase's reply, see note 69, chapter IX. 
1^ See p. 124 and note 13, chapter V. 

19 See note 100, chapter III. 

20 See note 54, chapter V. 

21 See note 22, chapter VI. 

22 Also, see note 24, chapter IV. 

23 Bancroft, in describing the debate on this day, says : 
"Wilson of Pennsylvania could no longer agree with his col- 
league [Dickinson]. He had at an early day foreseen independ- 
ence as the probable, though not the intended result of the 
contest ; he had uniformly declared in his place, that he never 
would vote for it contrary to his instructions, nay, that he 
regarded it as something more than presumption to take a step 
of such importance without express instructions and authority. 
'For,' said he, 'ought this act to be the act of four or five in- 
dividuals, or should it be the act of the people of Pennsylvania ? ' 
But now that their authority was communicated [See p. 191] by 
the conference of committees [Also, see p. 189], he stood on very 

469 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

different ground." He does not, however, say directly that this is 
what Wilson said on this day ; and, indeed, we are very strongly 
inclined to think that the entire paragraph is based simply upon 
the notes of Jefferson (See p. m), giving what Wilson, and 
others, said during the debates on June 8th and loth, and on 
the fact that, on July ist, Wilson voted, as MiKean (See 
Appendix^ p. 303) tells us, for independence. (See note 10 1, 
chapter III.) 

2^ See Bancroft's and " The Birth of the American Republic," 
etc., in Potter s^ etc., (N) for July, 1875. Also, see note ^^supra. 

25 Gerry writes, to Warren, July 2d: ". . . yesterday was 
agitated in Congress the great question of Independency ; and 
as the facts are as well known at the Coffee-House of the city 
as in Congress, I may go on to inform you that, in a Committee 
of the whole House, it was carried by nine Colonies." 

2^ For a letter of the New York Delegates and for a postscript 
of Jefferson both of which were written doubtless he/ore Congress 
met for the day, see p. 185 and note 3, supra^ respectively. 

27 See note 2, supra. 

^ For a note of Wisner written following the adoption, see 
p. 186. 

2^ M:Kean says (See p. 193) that Rodney arrived on the /fth. 

Jefferson, however, is evidently correct ; for a paper, already 
referred to (See note 2, supra)., (formerly in the Department of 
State) now in the Library of Congress indicates that Delaware 
voted aye on the 2d — which she could not have done, had 
Rodney been absent. Also, see Rodney's letter, p. 222. 

Indeed, MiKean's own language, in his letter (See Appendix., 
p. 301) of August 22, 18 13, to Caesar Augustus Rodney, would 
seem to prove that he is mistaken in the date ; for the vote upon 
the Declaration itself, upon the ^th., must have been taken at least 
as late as the afternoon (See p. 169 and Appendix., p. 297), while 
the vote in Congress on the ^i, upon the resolution adopted by the 

470 



NOTES TO TEXT 

committee of the whole on the ist, seems to have been taken the 
first thing in the morning (See p. 165 and Appendix^ pp. 296 and 
297). Also, see note 59, post, 

30 This, M:Kean tells us (See p. 193), was in consequence of 
an express sent to Rodney hy him,, at his own expense. 

« 

See notes 8 and 44, chapter IX. Also, Rodney must, it would 
seem, have known of the instructions (See p. 125) of his Colony. 
One might, therefore, ask why he did not attend on July ist ^ 
his own accord. Can he have supposed that Read would, follow- 
ing the removal of the former restrictions, vote fir independence; 
or did he desire to avoid, if possible, breaking with his former 
friends ; or did he think the measure would be carried without 
the vote of Delaware ? 

21 Ebenezer Hazard writes from New York — three days later 

— to Gates : " [NY] Since my last the British Fleet has arrived, 

— about 70 Sail are within the Narrows, at the watering Place, 
under Staten Island Shore. They have landed their Men, and 
taken Possession of Staten Island, Cattle Tories & all ... It 
was last night reported at Coffee House, and I believe the Report 
may be depended on, that the Congress had determined upon a 
Declaration of Independence; & that the Vote was unanimous, 
except New York, whose Delegates not being instructed, could 
not vote. Our new Convention meets next Monday, & I think 
will doubtless concur with the other Colonies. — The Philad? 
Post is not yet come in . . ." 

« 

Marshall, in his Diary,, writes simply : " This day, the Conti- 
nental Congress declared the United States Free and Independent 
States." 

See note 28, chapter VIII. 

471 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

The newspapers (with one exception) also — differing very 
greatly from the newspapers of to-day — merely announced the 
news^ without comment. 

The Pennsylvania Evening Post (A, C and N), of the ad, — the 
first to give to the Colonists the tidings — says : " This day 
the CONTINENTAL CONGRESS declared the UNITED 
COLONIES FREE and INDEPENDENT STATES." See 
facing p. 1 66. 

The Pennsylvania Gazette (C), of the 3d, contains a similarly 
curt announcement : "Yesterday the CONTINENTAL CON- 
GRESS declared the UNITED COLONIES FREE and IN- 
DEPENDENT STATES." (The same paper contains the 
following advertisement: "TO BE SOLD, A DUTCH 
servant GIRL, healthy, strong and good natured, has between 5 
and 6 years to serve. The reason of her master's parting with 
her will be honestly told to any person inclining to purchase. 
Enquire of yacob Hinkle^ at the sign of the Spread Eagle, or 
Philip Upright^ at the sign of the Blue Ball, both on Lancaster 
road.") 

The New-Tor k Gazette : and the Weekly Mercury (C), of the 
8th, says (as a communication from Philadelphia, dated the 3d) : 
"Yesterday the CONGRESS unanimously Resolved to declare 
the United Colonies FREE and INDEPENDENT STATES." 

The New-England Chronicle (MsS), of the I ith, says: "We 
are assured, that on July the Second, the Congress voted for 
INDEPENDENCY, not one Colony dissenting ; but the Dele- 
gates of New- York remained neuter, for want of being instructed 
on the Head." 

The Boston-Gazette^ etc., (Bos), of the 15th, says (as a like 
communication): "Yesterday the CONGRESS unanimously 
Resolved to declare the United Colonies FREE and INDE- 
PENDENT STATES." 

The Freeman^ s ^Journal or New-Hampshire Gazette (Con), of 

472 



NOTES TO TEXT 

the 13th, says (as a communication from Boston of the iith): 
" We are assured that on July the 2d, the Congress voted for 
INDEPENDENCY, not one colony dissenting; but the dele- 
gates of New- York remained neuter, for want of being instructed 
on the head." 

The one exception was The Massachusetts Spy Or^ American 
Oracle of Liberty^ published in Worcester by W. Stearns and 
D. Bigelow. In its issue (T), of the loth, it says: "It is 
reported that the Honorable Continental Congress have declared 
the American Colonies INDEPENDENT of that Monster 
of imperious domination and cruelty — Great Britain ! Which 
we hope is true." 

32 The copies made at the time so indicate. The originals 
also are so dated. On the 14th, Mrs. Adams, however, acknowl- 
edged (See Appendix^ p. 349) his " two letters dated 3d and 4th 
of July " ; and, on the 23d, in replying to this, Adams himself 
wrote : " [Qy] Since the letters of July 3'? and 4*^ which you 
say you have rec"? I have written to you of the following dates 
. . ." : and we find no letter (or copy) extant of the ph. 

^ Report of the Commission to locate the Site of the Frontier Forts 
of Pennsylvania^ vol. I, p. 405, (1896) says: "Fort Horn was 
erected on a high flat extending out to the river and commanding 
a good view of the river up and down, as well as the north side 
of the river; is about midway between Pine and McElhattan 
Stations on the P. & E. R. R., west of Fort Antes . . . One 
of the most remarkable incidents of Revolutionary times — an 
incident which stands, so far as known, without its counterpart 
in the history of the struggle of any people for liberty and inde- 
pendence, occurred within sight of Horn's fort, but across the 
river on the Indian land. This was what is known as the ' Pine 
Creek Declaration of Independence.' The question of the col- 
onies throwing off the yoke of Great Britain and setting up busi- 
ness for themselves, had been much discussed, both in and out 

473 

r 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

of Congress. The hardy Scotch Irish settlers on both sides of 
the river, in the vicinity of Horn's bore little love for the mother 
country. The majority of them had been forced to leave their 
native land to seek a home where they would be free from reli- 
gious oppression — where they could worship God according to 
the dictates of their own conscience. They were all patriots in 
the broadest sense of the term, and a loyalist or tory would not 
have been tolerated in their midst. They yearned for independ- 
ence, and when the discussion of the subject waxed warm they 
resolved on calling a public meeting to give formal expression to 
their views. Accordingly, on the 4th day of July, 1776, the 
meeting, assembled on the Pine creek plains and a resolution 
was passed, declaring themselves free and independent of Great 
Britain. The remarkable feature of this meeting was that the 
Pine creek resolution was passed on the same day that a similar 
resolution was passed by the Continental Congress sitting in 
Philadelphia, more than two hundred miles away, and between 
whom there could be no communication for concert of action. 
It was, indeed, a remarkable coincident — remarkable in the fact 
that the Continental Congress and the squatter sovereigns on the 
West Branch should declare for freedom and independence about 
the same time. It is regretted that no written record of the 
meeting was preserved, showing who the officers were and giving 
the names of all those present. All that is known is what has 
been handed down by tradition. The following names of the 
participants have been preserved : Thomas, Francis and John 
Clark, Alexander Donaldson, William Campbell, Alexander 
Hamilton, John Jackson, Adam Carson, Henry McCracken, 
Adam DeWitt, Robert Love and Hugh Nichols. The meeting 
might have been held at the cabins of either John Jackson or 
Alexander Hamilton, as both were representative and patriotic 
men of the period. Several of these men afterwards perished at 
the hands of the savages; others fought in the Revolutionary 

474 



NOTES TO TEXT 

army and assisted in achieving the independence which they had 
resolved the country should have. The majority of these men 
lived across the river from the fort on the Indian land, and they 
all received patents for the land they had pre-empted after the 
treaty and purchase of 1784, in consideration of their loyalty, 
patriotism and devotion to the struggling colonies. The name 
of Samuel Horn is not found among those that have been handed 
down to us, but it may be safely inferred that the man who was 
sufficiently patriotic to build a stockade fort for the protection 
of the neighborhood in which these men lived, was a sympa- 
thizer, if not a participant, in the Pine creek movement for 
independence." 

(Of course, see p. 166.) 

^ Randall, in the Appendix to The Life of Thomas Jefferson^ 
says : " The following is from a letter to us from a familiar 
visitor at Monticello, General J. Spear Smith, of Maryland : 
' Whilst the question of Independence was before Congress, it 
had its meetings near a livery stable. The members wore short 
breeches and silk stockings, and with handkerchief in hand, they 
were diligently employed in lashing the flies from their legs. So 
very vexatious was this annoyance, and so great an impatience 
did it arouse [in] the sufferers, that it hastened, if it did not aid, 
in inducing them to promptly affix their signatures to the great 
document, which gave birth to an empire republic. This anec- 
dote I had from Mr. Jefferson, at Monticello, who seemed to 
enjoy it very much, as well as to give great credit to the influence 
of the flies. He told it with much glee, and seemed to retain a 
vivid recollection of the severity of the attack, from which the 
only relief was signing the paper, and flying from the scene.' " 

2^ See facing p. 170. 

2^ See note 39, post. For the wording, punctuation, etc., see 
Appendix^ p. 306 et seq. (or facing p. 170). 

^'^ For the wording, punctuation etc., see Appendix^ p. 306 et seq, 

475 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^ As we have seen, a half-page of the rough Journal was left 
blank and a printed copy of the Declaration was wafered onto it. 
Also, it seems certain that this broadside (See note 39, />^^/) had 
issued by the 5th (and perhaps — Indeed, see Appendix^ p. 349 — 
when Congress met for the day) ; for, on that day, as we shall 
see, Hancock sent a copy of the Declaration to the Committee 
of Safety of Pennsylvania, a copy to the Convention of New 
Jersey and a copy to Colonel Haslet and John Adams a copy 
and Gerry two copies to friends. It would seem likely, there- 
fore, that the printer (Dunlap) was furnished the original draft 
before Congress (See p. 155), in the handwriting of Jefferson. 
This doubtless showed upon its face — probably in the hand- 
writing of Harrison or Thomson — the amendments made by 
Congress. (If so, it would be not at all improbable that this draft 
was either lost or destroyed at this time. See, however, in this 
connection, note 81, chapter IX.) 

39 The printed copy of the Declaration wafered onto page 94 
of the rough Journal (See p. 170) is one of these. 

There are two other copies (one among the Washington 
papers : see note 40, chapter XI) in the Library of Congress, 
a copy In the collection of Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet now in the 
New York Public Library (Lenox), a copy in the Massachu- 
setts Historical Society, a copy in the possession of John Boyd 
Thacher of Albany, a copy ( ?) in the possession of Mrs. Harri- 
son of Philadelphia (See note 15, chapter XI) and a fragment 
of a copy in The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (See ihid^. 

(The copy referred to in " Colonel John Nixon " by Charles 
Henry Hart in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography^ 
I, 196, and in Catalogue No. 683, compiled by Stan. V. Henkels, 
p. 142, Hart writes us, he, Hart, withdrew and " afterward sold to 
Mrs. Charles C Harrison " and is the one now in her possession.) 

The name of Hancock only of the signers, therefore, appeared 
upon the copies thus distributed by order of Congress. 

476 



NOTES TO TEXT 

40 That the Declaration was 2i justification of the Revolution^ see 
"The Declaration of Independence" by William F. Dana in 
the Harvard Law Review (N) for January, 1900. See also The 
Outlook (C) for May, 1899. Also, see note 16, chapter VI. 

*l Henrich Millers Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote (PH and Rid) of 
the 5th — the first newspaper to announce the Declaration — says 
(the first sentence in large type) :" Gestern hat der Achtbare 
Congress dieses Vesten Landes die Vereinigten Colonien freye 
und Unabhanglge Staaten erklaret. Die Declaration in Eng- 
lisch 1st jetzt in der Presse ; sie ist datirt, den 4ten July, 1776, 
und wird heut oder morgen im druck erscheinen." 

(We cannot tell from this language whether Miller is here re- 
ferring to the broadside printed under the order of Congress by 
Dunlap, which issued, we think — See note 38, supra — on that 
day, or whether he is announcing a broadside to be issued by him- 
self. The German may mean either. It would seem, however, 
that, if he were issuing such a broadside, he would have announced 
it more in detail ; while, at the same time, there is, among " Du 
Simltiere's Scraps ", in The Library Company of Philadelphia, 
Ridgeway Branch, a broadside which differs from any other 
that we have found and which does not bear the name of any 
printer. This is headed: "In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. | 
A Declaration by the Reprefentatives of the UNITED STATES | 
of America, in General Congrefs affembled." The body of the 
instrument is in two columns, separated by two lines. At the 
bottom of the second column is the usual printed attestation of 
Hancock and Thomson.) 

» 

For the names and dates of the newspapers, etc., which printed 
the Declaration, see note /[.impost; pp. 232 and 233; and notes 
,6, 50, 74, 85, 105 and 114, chapter XI. 

*2 The Declaration appears In The Scots Magazine (C) — pub- 
lished in Edinburgh — for August. A note-reference therein 

477 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

(See p. 233) to these words says /*' In what are they created 
equal? Is it in size, strength, understanding, figure, moral or 
civil accomplishments, or situation of life ? Every ploughman 
knows that they are not created equal in any of these. All men, 
it is true, are equally created : but what is this to the purpose ? It 
certainly is no reason why the Americans should turn rebels, be- 
cause the people of G. Britain are their fellow-creatures, /. e. are 
created as well as themselves. It may be a reason why they 
should not rebel, but most indisputably is none why they should. 
They therefore have introduced their self-evident truth, either 
through ignorance, or by design, with the self-evident falsehood : 
since I will defy any American rebel, or any of their patriotic re- 
tainers here in England, to point out to me any two men through- 
out the whole world of whom it may with truth be said, that they 
were created equal." 

*3 The Declaration appears in The Scots Magazine (C) — pub- 
lished in Edinburgh — for August. A note-reference therein 
(See p. 233) to these words says : " The meaning of these words 
the Congress appear not at all to understand; among which are 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Let us put some of 
these words together. — All men are endowed by their Creator 
with the unalienable right of life. How far they may be endowed 
with this unalienable right I do not say, but, sure I am, these 
gentry assume to themselves an unalienable right of talking non- 
sense. Was it ever heard since the introduction of blunders into 
the world, that life was a man's right ? Life or animation is of the 
essence of human nature, and is that without which one is not a 
man ; and therefore to call life a right, is to betray a total igno- 
rance of the meaning of words. A living man i. e. z man with 
life, hath a right to a great many things ; but to say that a man 
with life hath a right to be a man with life, is so purely Ameri- 
can, that I believe the texture of no other brain upon the face of 
the earth will admit the idea. Whatever it may be, I have tried 

478 



NOTES TO TEXT 

to make an idea out of it, but own I am unable. Prior to my 
having any right at all as a man, it is certain / must be a man, 
and such a man / certainly cannot be if I have no life ; and 
therefore if it is said that I have a right to life, then the word / 
must signify something without life: and consequently, some- 
thing without life must be supposed to have a property, which 
without life it is not possible it can have. Well, but they say, 
all men have not only a right to life, but an unalienable right. 
The word unalienable signifies that which is not alienable, and 
that which is not alienable is what can not be transferred so as 
to become another's ; so that their unalienable right is a right 
which they cannot transfer to a broomstick or a cabbage-stalk; 
and because they cannot transfer their own lives from themselves 
to a cabbage-stalk, therefore they think it absolutely necessary 
that they should rebel ; and, out of a decent respect to the opin- 
ions of mankind, alledge this as one of the causes which impels 
them to separate themselves from those to whom they owe obedi- 
ence. The next assigned cause and ground of their rebellion is, 
that every man hath an unalienable right to liberty ; and here 
the words, as it happens, are not nonsense; but then they are 
not true; slaves there are in America; and where there are 
slaves, their liberty is alienated. If the Creator hath endowed 
man with an unalienable right to liberty, no reason in the world 
will justify the abridgement of that liberty, and a man hath a right 
to do everything that he thinks proper without controul or re- 
straint ; and upon the same principle, there can be no such things 
as servants, subjects, or government of any kind whatsoever. 
In a word, every law that hath been in the world since the for- 
mation of Adam, gives the lie to this self-evident truth, (as they 
are pleased to term it) ; because every law, divine or human, that 
is or hath been in the world, is an abridgement of man's liberty. 
Their next self-evident truth and ground of rebellion is, that they 
have an unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. The pur- 

479 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

suit of happiness an unalienable right ! This surely is out-doing 
everything that went before. Put it into English : The pursuit 
of happiness is a right with which the Creator hath endowed me, 
and which can neither be taken from me, nor can I transfer it to 
another. Did ever any mortal alive hear of taking a pursuit of 
happiness from a man ? What they possibly can mean by these 
words, I own, is beyond my comprehension. A man may take 
from me a horse or a cow, or I may alienate either of them from 
myself, as I may likewise anything that I have ; but how that 
can be taken from me, or alienated, which I have not, must be 
left for the solution of some unborn Oedipus." 

^ For the meaning of this and the following " indictments ", 
so to speak, see The Declaration of Independence by Herbert 
Friedenwald. 

*^ Jefferson, as we have seen (See p. 171), tells us why this 
was cut out. See also p. 178. 

^^ Jefferson, as we have seen (See p. 171), tells us why this 
was cut out. 

*'' The rest of the Declaration seems to have been written 
with a sharper pen and the ink to be of a slightly lighter shade 
(brown) than the preceding portion of the notes following the 
word "to" (See Appendix^ note 15) but still darker than the 
copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783. 

^^ Jefferson tells us (See p. 178) why this was cut out. 

*^ He seems to have indicated them on his " Rough draught " : 
see between pp. 144 and 145. Also, see Appendix^ pp. 348 and 

349- 

^ R. H. Lee, the grandson, writes, from Washington to John 
Vaughan, August 11, 1836: "[A] I never had in my posses- 
sion the original Mss Letter of M' Jefferson accompanying his 
draught of the Declaration of Independence — It had been lost. 
The copy of it, which I gave to the Am : Ph : Society is an 
authentic one ; it came down from my grandfather, through his 

480 



NOTES TO TEXT 

sons to me. I presented a copy of my Life of R. H. Lee to 
Mf JefFerson — He wrote me a polite note in return [See Appen- 
dix^ p. 346]. He never hinted, that there was the slightest 
inaccuracy in the account of the adoption of the Declaration 
of Independence as I have given it in that work, or in any of 
the documents accompanying it." 

To the same gentleman and from the same city, he writes, 
February 25, 1840: "[A] I have taken time to recollect all the 
incidents connected with the draught of the Decl? of Independ- 
ence [See Appendix^ p. 344] I presented to the Athenaeum, as 
well [as] with the copy of M"" Jefferson's letter ... I am, how- 
ever, extremely sorry, that I have it not in my power to send 
you, the original Mss. letter of M' JefFerson, which enclosed the 
draught of the Decl? of Indf It had unfortunately been lost, 
before the Mss of R. H. Lee came to my hands. As I learnt 
from my father and Uncle, who preserved my Grandfather's 
Mss. an exact copy had been made from the original letter, from 
an apprehension, that the original might be lost or worn out, as 
the Decl. had nearly been. Both these gentlemen told me they 
had often seen the original letter . . ." 

% 

The letter as given in the text is taken from a copy in the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, in Boston, presented to the 
Society by Timothy Pickering. 

This copy shows that the letter was superscribed : " To Rich- 
ard Henry Lee esquire at Chantilly. Virginia, to be left at Fred- 
ericksburg for the Westmoreland rider, free Th : JefFerson [.] " 

Accompanying this copy is a copy of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence " as originally framed " and a statement and a memo- 
randum by Pickering. 

The statement, dated Wenham, November 29, 181 1, says 
that the copy of the letter to Lee and that of the Declaration 
"[Ms] I have this day transcribed from my original copies made 
31 481 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

immediately from M^ JefFerson's original letter to M.\ Lee, & 
from his copy of the Declaration inclosed therein. That original 
letter and that inclosed copy were in M' Jefferson's hand-writing, 
to me since familiarly known. In thefe, as well as in the 
original copies, I have been careful, in every word, letter and 
point, to conform to M' Jefferson's draughts j observing his 
peculiar[it]ies, in beginning fentences (excepting at the com- 
mencement . of paragraphs) with fmall letters — writing rnr for 
M' — the fhort s where the long f was customarily used (the 
long f in huftnefs^ in the letter to M' Lee is an exception of 
M'; Jefferson's) and in departing from the standard fpelling of 
some words. My original copies were made by me at the city 
of Washington on the 26th of February 1805. M! Jefferson's 
copy of the Declaration was indorsed — ' Declaration of | Inde- 
pendence as re- | ported to Congrefs | July 1777.' which endorse- 
ment, Charles Lee Esq. informed me was the hand-writing of 
his father-in-law, Richard Henry Lee, who was a member of 
Congress in 1776, but had been called home on account of the 
ficknefs of his family, after he had moved the resolution relative 
to Independence." 

The memorandum, similarly dated, says: "[Ms] Chief Justice 
Parsons, about two years since, told me, that M' J. Adams 
had recently informed him, that the committee chose him & 
yi\ Jefferson to draw the declaration j & that he referred it to 
Mr Jefferson." 

The Massachusetts Historical Society has also " my original 
copies ". 

As to the " original " copy of the Declaration of Independence, 
these " original copies " say : " City of Washington, Feb7 26. 
1805. The preceeding Copy of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence has this day been examined by me ; and on a careful 
comparison with the original copy ... I find that in every 
word, letter and point, written with black ink, it is an exact 

432 



NOTES TO TEXT 

transcript of that copy . . . The words interlined and added to 
the Declaration in red ink, and the words inclosed with red lines, 
exhibit the declaration as amended in Congress, the words and 
letters inclosed in those red lines having been struck out.'* 

How the Declaration " as originally framed " came into 
Pickering's possession at Washington does not appear. 

See, however, note 50, chapter IV. 

We know, however, that, on April 7, 181 1, Henry Lee writes 
to Pickering, from Alexandria : " [Ms] I persuade myself I shall 
not be considered as intrusive when I suggest to you an opinion 
entertained here & which excites some disquietude among the 
nearest friends to R H Lee. Y' late publication [See note 50, 
chapter IV] so far as it has gone, & y!; taking a second copy of 
the original draft of the declaration of independance before you 
left Congress has given rise to the opinion. We fear that you 
mean to introduce it in the publication now progressing & how- 
ever we should rejoice to see the document alludered to, ushered 
into the world by a character we so sincerely respect yet there 
are many considerations in our judgement which forbid the 
present introduction. I will mention two. i^.' We think it 
best becomes the gravity of history & that only it ought to 
appear in some historical work which treats of the revolution. 
2^. We think it ought never to be seen in the present publica- 
tion, which evidently refers to personal objects & cannot be 
exempt from the passions which such objects will always excite, 
& more especially as R H L & J. Adams were intimate friends " ; 
that, on May 3d, Pickering replies, from Wenham : " [MsC] I 
duly received your letter of the y**" of April, expressing the 
apprehensions of the friends of Richard Henry Lee, that I pur- 
posed to introduce, in my present addresses to the people of the 
U. States, a copy of the original draught of the declaration of 
independence which had been sent to him by M'^ Jefferson. I 
had no such intention j tho' I meant to refer to & describe it 

483 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

(as I have done), in order to show how little was his merit in 
compiling it. This I had prepared when your letter came to 
hand — At the same time I thought it not improbable that M.\ 
Jefferson or some of his friends might now publish it ; and he, 
it is likely, will do it, or suffer it to be done, if he retains for it 
the partiality manifested in his letter to Mr Lee. I did not take 
a second copy of the declaration as you suppose; but only of 
the letter which accompanied it, for the sake of the passage which 
I have quoted in my 7*.^ number, & which I thought it possible 
I might want before I reached Boston : for in November last, 
at the request of the Secretary of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society at Boston, I had delivered to him my own perfectly 
exact copies . . . The originals were delivered to me without 
any condition in regard to copies ; and others took them as well 
as I. I had no suspicion that any reserve was necessary. There 
is certainly no secret in regard to the declaration for it must be 
a public document now among the papers of the Old Congress " ; 
and that, on May 12th, Henry Lee writes again to Pickering: 
" [Ms] The men who love Mf R H L are among y\ fastest 
friends & would have been delighted with y! full use of the 
papers found in his cabinet whenever you thought proper, unless 
in a discussion which in its commencement partook in a con- 
siderable degree of personalitys & which applied forcibly [?] to 
M! Adams his friend & fellow-laborer in days past." 

The Pickering papers contain also a letter from Charles Lee 
to Pickering, dated Alexandria, April 9, 1808, which says: 
" [Ms] In reply to your letter of the 4* I can say that in a con- 
versation with M! Adams while he was president relative to the 
declaration of independence he mentioned that the members of 
the committee appointed to prepare a declaration met as was 
usual and their ideas were freely exchanged and communicated 
on the subject. Some of them put notes in writing of their 
thoughts & that MT Jefferson being the first named upon the 

484 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Committee & being considered as having the best pen was 
charged with the duty of preparing a draft of a declaration of 
independence to be reported to Congress : that he had the benefit 
of the ideas of the committee and that many alterations were 
made in the draft after it was reported to Congress and he 
believed some alterations were made by the committee in the 
original draft laid before them by M' Jefferson, but of this latter 
he was not sure. This is the substance of what I heard from 
M.\ Adams to the best of my recollection and of what I men- 
tioned to you a few years ago when we were conversing on the 
same topick . . . The resolutions were moved by M' Lee on 
the 7*!" June 1776 who having been assigned to this honorable 
office had postponed for some days his return to his sick family 
in Virginia in order that the resolutions might be moved by him 
and he has been heard to say that it was the most aweful moment 
of his life when he rose to make the motion.'* 

^1 R. H. Lee, the grandson and biographer, and, doubtless 
following him, Paul Leicester Ford (See The Writings of Thomas 
Jefferson) give this as follows : ". . . you, and not Wythe . . ." 
They are evidently mistaken. See note 107, chapter IX. 

^2 Also, see p. 145. 

^^ He did not take part in the debates: see p. 145. 

^* See Appendix^ pp. 349, 344 and 350, respectively. 

^^ See the preceding portion of this letter, p. 142. 

^ JefFerson's notes^ as we have seen, say : " the debates 
. . . were, in the evening of the last [the 4th], closed . . ." 

^■^ A poem — called " Independence Bell — July 4, 1776" — 
commemorative of the event here detailed is to be found in 
The Franklin Fifth Reader by G. S. Hillard. Also, see The 
Legends of the American Revolution by George Lippard. 

^^ The Scots Magazine (C) — published in Edinburgh — for 
August contains the following : " A letter from Philadelphia says, 
'The 4th of July, 1776, the Americans appointed as a day of 

485 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

fasting and prayer, preparatory to their dedicating their country 
to God; which was done in the following manner : The Con- 
gress being assembled, after having declared America independ- 
ent, they had a crown placed on a Bible, which by prayer and 
solemn devotion they offered to God. This religious ceremony 
being ended, they divided the crown into thirteen parts, each of 
the United Provinces taking a part.' " 

The Gentlemans Magaz,ine^ and Historical Chronicle (C) — pub- 
lished in London — for September is equally incorrect in another 
regard. It says : " Letters, seemingly authentic, inform, that the 
4th of July was set apart, throughout the Colonies, by order of 
the American Congress, as a day of fasting and prayer, pre- 
paratory to their dedicating their country to God. This is the 
more probable, as they have all along prefaced their operations 
with an appeal to the Divine Being; but the account of the 
ceremony of laying a Crown on the Bible, and dividing it into 
13 parts, wants confirmation." 

# 

Memoirs of his Own Time by Gray don, p. 307, foot-note, 
(1846) gives a purported speech of Witherspoon on this day, 
stated to be quoted from a speech of Rev. S. S. Templeton. 
Certainly, whoever it was who worded the extract (stated to be) 
quoted from Rev. S. S. Templeton was not acquainted with the 
history of the adoption of the Declaration. 

^^ This would seem very improbable, if, as M:Kean states 
(See Appendix^ p. 300), the 4th of July was a rainy day. We 
believe, however, that M:Kean is mistaken, and that it was the 
2d of July and not the 4th that was inclement ; for the day which 
"seems to have impressed itself most strongly upon his mind was 
the day when Rodney returned from Delaware, and this^ we 
believe (See note 29, supra)^ was the 2d of July, and not the .^th^ 
as M:Kean states. 

u 
486 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Fully a year, If not longer, after writing the above portion of 
this note (and note 2g^ supra; and notes ii, 12 and 13, chapter 
IX), during which time we were ever on the lookout for some 
contemporaneous statement to prove or disprove our conclusion, 
we noticed In the Preface of Extracts from the Diary of Chris- 
topher Marshall (the body of which we had conned repeatedly) 
that now and again statements as to the weather had been left out 
of the (printed) Extracts^ etc. We, therefore, immediately wrote to 
John W. Jordan, Librarian of The Historical Society of Pennsyl- 
vania, for such statements. If any, under dates of July 2d and 4th 
(etc.) in Marshall's original MS.,, with the results shown at pp* 
165 and 169 (and pp. 156 and 168 and note 79, chapter IX). 

Jt 
We do not wish to be understood to mean that this proves 
Losslng's statement (given in the text) correct. 
^^ This bell bears the following : 

Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto 
all the Inhabitants thereof 

Lev X X 3^ X. 

By Order of the Assembly of the Province of 
Pennsylvania for the State House in Philad^ 

Pass and Stow 
Philad^ 
MDCCLIII 

Lossing says: " [H] In 1752, a bell for the State House was 
imported from England: On the first trial-ringing, after Its 
arrival. It was cracked. It was recast ... In 1753, under the 
direction of Isaac Norris, Esq., the then speaker of the Colonial 
Assembly." " [H] When the British army approached Phila- 
delphia, In 1777, this bell was taken down and carried to a place 

487 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

of safety. Already the ancient steeple, on account of decay, had 
been taken down, and a simple belfry put in its place. The 
present [1850] steeple is quite modern." 



CHAPTER VIII 



^ See y^j, note 39, chapter IX. 

2 He also was elected to this Provincial Congress. 

^ See note 119, chapter III (and note 117, ibid.), 

* See note 117, chapter III. 

^ See pp. 17 and 68. 

^ See p. 17. 

^ See, however, p. 77. 

^ This must have been by letter ; for, as we have seen (See 
note 27, chapter VI), Jefferson (at Philadelphia) sent a letter to 
Nelson on or after the 19th. Indeed, Nelson could not have 
arrived: see p. 80; note 126, chapter III; and note 3, 
chapter VII. Indeed, also, see note 85, chapter III. 

^ Jay did not take the oath of office until the 25th; but, on 
this day, the resolution of Congress of May 15th was taken into 
consideration and he was appointed upon a committee to report 
thereon. 

^0 See Francis Lewis^ note 39, chapter IX. 

^1 We know that he was present in Philadelphia on January 
4th. We do not know when he left. 

12 Perhaps at the same time, though probably (by regular post) 
a day or so later. Jay must have received the letter (See p. 116) 
of Edward Rutledge. 

^^ Lee had already — the day before — introduced his resolu- 
tion. This letter was written probably previous to the debate 
(See p. III). 

^* Though he purposed, Jay says (See Francis Lewis^ note 39, 

488 



NOTES TO TEXT 

chapter IX), to set out from New York City with Lewis, he 
seems — from the fact that he did not sign the letter of the 8th 
— not to have arrived with him. 

1^ A letter of the 2ph of June to the Provincial Congress — 
not, however, on this subject — is signed by Clinton, Francis 
Lewis, Floyd, Wisner and Alsop. This would seem to indicate 
that, interim^ Clinton had arrived at Philadelphia and R. R. 
Livingston departed. Indeed, see p. 140. See, however, R. R, 
Livingston^ note 39, chapter IX. 

(There is an article entitled "The Declaration in a new 
Light " in Harper's New Monthly Magazine for July, 1883.) 

^^ The New York Delegates, accordingly, did not vote at all 
in the committee of the whole on July ist, nor in Congress on 
the 2d or 4th. 

^^ See, however. Hazard's letter of July 5th, note 31, chapter 
VII. 

1^ Woodhull was President ; Pierre Van Cortlandt was among 
those present. 

For the feeling In New York City previous to its meeting, see 
Hazard's letter, note 31, chapter VII. 

^^ For what took place in New York City on this day, see 
p. 251. 

20 For the stand taken by them on this day, see p. 163. 

21 Arnold J. F. van Laer, Librarian of Manuscripts in the 
New York State Library, under date of November 14, 1899, 
writes us : " Neither the letter from the Delegates to the Con- 
tinental Congress, nor the copy of the Decl. of Indep. enclosed 
in that letter, are on file. The index for v. 34 of Miscellane- 
ous papers 1775-76, refers to 2 printed copies of the Decl. of 
Ind. [one of which is evidently that sent by Hancock : see note 
25, post^ and p. 240] but both papers are wanting in the volume 
. . . The index to vol. 35 refers to a ' Printed copy [See p. 284] 
of the Decl. of Ind. with all the signatures and a request from 

489 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

J. Hancock to record it in the Archives of the State.' This 
document is also wanting. From these references I am inclined 
to think that the copy, enclosed in the original letter, must have 
been a printed one. It would be interesting if these missing 
documents, which have evidently been stolen, could be traced 
anywhere." 

22 William Jay, in Life of John Jay (1825), says that the 
original — in the handwriting of Jay — is preserved among the 
records of New York, van Laer says (also), however : " There 
are also 2 references to the Resolutions of N. Y. Prov. Con- 
gress, July 9, 1776, one of which is missing while the other is 
a rough copy by Rob. Benson, Sec'y, I take it." Indeed, on 
November 18th, he writes, again: "In reply to your letter of 
yesterday I compared the resolutions of 9 July 1776 in Misc. 
papers . . . with some letters from John Jay and can say posi- 
tively that the writing is not his. I have not the slightest doubt 
but it is Benson's." 

23 For what took place in New York City and at Huntington, 
see p. 255. 

2* In the New York State Library, there are two broadsides of 
the Declaration. 

One, van Laer tells us, he found, in 1904, among some of the 
legislative papers of 1824. It is headed: "In CONGRESS, 
July 4, 1776. I A DECLARATION | By the REPRESENT- 
ATIVES of the I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, | In 
GENERAL CONGRESS assembled." The body of the in- 
strument is in two columns. At the bottom of the second 
column is : " Signed by Order and in Behalf of the Congress, | 
JOHN HANCOCK, Prefident." and at the bottom, on the 
left, where (as well as elsewhere) it is worn and portions are 
missing: "S THOMSON, Secretary." There is scarcely any 
margin outside of the printing, but it is difficult, if not impos- 
sible, to determine whether trimmed or not. 

490 



NOTES TO TEXT 

The other Is headed: "In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. [ A 
DECLARATION \ by the \ REPRESENTATIVES ] of the 
j UNITED STATES | of j AMERICA, | In GENERAL 
CONGRESS Assembled." The body is in two columns. At 
the bottom is: " NEW- YORK : Printed by JOHN HOLT, 
in Water-Street." The edges have been trimmed. See note 
50, chapter XL It is endorsed on the back : " [Al] July 
^tfc 1776 Declaration of Independence N? 29". 

25 These were sent, July i ith, and were read in Congress by 
the President on the 15th — the day when, Jefferson says (See 
p. 200), the New York delegation signed the Declaration on paper. 
On the same day (the nth), the following letter to Hancock 
was drafted (by the Convention) : " Your letter of the 6th July 
instant [See p. 240], enclosing a copy of the Declaration [See 
note 21, supra] , , . has been received. It gives us pleasure 
to inform you that, having been informed of that Declaration 
by our Delegates, we have anticipated the request of Congress, 
by our Resolutions of the 9th instant, a copy of which was en- 
closed in a letter we did ourselves the honour of writing you this 
morning." 

Also, see Jlsop^ note 39, chapter IX. 

26 See p. 60. 

2^ Marshall, in his D'lary^ for June 8th, says : " This day, fresh 
instructions were given by our Assembly to their Delegates in 
Congress, Yeas 31, Nays 12." 

28 Marshall, in his Diary ^ says : " Down to where the First 
Battalion exercised ; stayed till the resolves of Congress, Fifteenth 
of May, and the resolves made the Tv/entieth at the State House 
were read, then proposed whether they should support them at 
all hazards. The same was agreed to unanimously, except two 
oiEcers in the Foot, two officers in the Infantry and about 
twenty-three privates in the Infantry. From thence to the 
Second Battalion, where the same was read and agreed to by 

491 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

all except two privates. The same I understand was done by 
Col. Mc Kean's and Col. Matlack's to a man, this day.'* 

Dr. James Clitherall, who is stated to have left Charleston, 
S. C, in April, as an escort to Mrs. Edward Rutledge and Mrs. 
Arthur Middleton, writes: "May 13 . . . About dusk we 
ended our journey and took lodgings at Mrs. Yard's [where, we 
believe, Samuel and John Adams and Gerry lodged] on Second 
street ... In this metropolis I had an opportunity of seeing 
the grand Continental Congress, a body of men to my knowl- 
edge not equalled in history ... I met Mr. Lynch, whose sit- 
uation [See note 38, chapter IX] struck me deeply with the 
feebleness of human nature. He was greatly recovered ; could 
keep up a conversation very well, but now and then his memory 
seemed to fail him. It was indeed shocking to see a man whose 
opinion at one moment swayed millions, and the next he him- 
self under the direction of doctors and nurses. I soon perceived 
in this city that parties ran high — the body of the people for 
Independency. The Proprietary, John Penn, and most of the 
gentlemen of the city attached to his interest, were against it 
lest the form of government should be changed . . . The rage 
of the multitude at present only vented itself in whisperings, but 
on a recommendation of Congress that those Colonies that did 
not find their present form of government sufficient for the exi- 
gency of the times, would settle a form of government for them- 
selves, the rage of the people burst out in a protest against their 
present Assembly, who had instructed their Delegates not to vote 
for Independency. A meeting of the people was called. I at- 
tended it. The paper calling the meeting was produced recom- 
mending a number of resolves ; the Committee of Inspection 
proposed the appointment of a chairman; Roberdeau was seated. 
The different questions were then put; the people behaved in 
such a tyranical manner that the least opposition was dangerous 
• . . The questions were put, at the first of which, a man be- 

492 



NOTES TO TEXT 

cause he would not vote as they did was insulted and abused, I 
therefore thought it prudent to vote with the multitude ... I 
forgot to mention, that before the meeting of the conference 
every method was taken to force men into Independency by [the 
Committee of Privates] . . . They put the question to the City 
Battalions under arms, and any man who dared oppose their 
opinion was insulted and hushed by their interruptions, cheers 
and hissings. I do not mean by this that there was not a ma- 
jority in their way of thinking, but to shew how unfair and par- 
tial their proceedings were . . . after living one month at Mrs. 
Yard's Mr. Middleton and Rutledge invited me to live with 
them . . . July 2. — This glorious day that threw off the tyr- 
anny of George III., and greeted the Colonies as free united 
and independent states, I left Philadelphia . . ." (Taken from 
The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography^ XXII, 468.) 

29 Taken from Dunlafs^ etc., (N) of June 17th. 

^0 Marshall, in his Diary^ says : ". . . the members of the 
Assembly to the number of thirty-three, adjourned to August 
the Twenty-sixth, sundry country members being gone out of 
town." 

^1 See p. 131. 

^2 It may be found in Dunlap's^ etc., (N) of July 1st. 

23 See p. 242. 

^ Silas Deane, in a letter to C. W. F. Dumas, dated Paris, 
October 6th, says : " I know what Dr. Franklin's sentiments 
were when I left America [See p. 97], and that nothing but 
a miracle could convert him to wish for an accommodation on 
other terms than the independence of the Colonies." Also, see 
note 106, chapter III. 

^ Marshall, in his Diary ^ says : " The gentlemen appointed 
this day, in Convention, for Provincial Delegates in Congress, 
were, B. Franklin, votes, 78; Robert Morris, 74; James Wil- 
son, 74; John Morton, 71 ; George Clymer, 75; George 

493 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Ross, ']J', Col. James Smith, 56; Benja. Rush, 61; George 
Taylor, 34." 

36 He was a new Delegate. He signed the Declaration on 
parchment now in the Department of State. 

37 See p. 228. 

38 John Adams, in his Diary ^ says: "[J] Dr. Rush ... is 
an elegant, ingenious body, a sprightly, pretty fellow." He 
writes, July 23, 1776 : " [QyC] I don't know how I can better 
entertain you, that [than] by giving you some Idea of the Char- 
acter of this D"" Rush. — He is a Native of Philadelphia, a 
Gentleman of a very ingenious Turn of Mind, and of elegant 
Accomplishment [.]" Many years later, June 11, 181 3, in a 
letter to Jefferson, written at Quincy, he says : " [S] I lament 
with you the loss of Rush. I know of no Character Hving or 
dead, who has done more real good in America. Robert Treat 
Paine still lives, at 83 or 84, alert drol and witty though deaf. 
Floyd I believe yet remains. Paine must be very great ; Philos- 
opher and Christian; to live under the Afflictions of his Family 
... A Son, whose name was altered, from Thomas to Robert 
Treat has left a Volume of Prose and Verse, which will attract 
the attention of Posterity to his Father, more than his Signature 
of Independence." See note 3, chapter VI. 

39 He writes to his wife, " favored by M'"^ Gettys ", August 
15th: " [Tr] I received your Letter two days since which gives 
me much pleasure to find your Thumb was got well, I blame 
myself for not writing oftener but if you knew how much I am 
hurried between Attending the Congress Convention & Assist- 
ing the Militia in getting Necessaries here ... If this excuse 
wont pass — I Cant frame a better, I am glad however I did 
not write yesterday morning as I intended being then in a bad 
humour, having lost a New Cane, at a Turtle Feast with M' 
Hancock & y« Delegates last Week, & my New Hat & 37 Dol- 
lars in Paper — all which I got safe yesterday, I got my Cane 

494 



Iff 



NOTES TO TEXT 

at y* New Tavern, Gen^ Wooster had taken my hat In a Mis- 
take & the Negro woman found y*^ money in my bed room 
amongst some old Papers — I have prevailed on my Landlord to 
rent Little New House, next Door to the Tavern where I have 
a genteel bed room & 2 Closets with locks & keys & a small 
Parlour below to do business in, so that I am quite out of y® 
hurry of y^ Tavern — I have got a touch of Rheumatism in my 
Shoulder by Sleeping with my Windows open M^ Adams say 
I very well deserve it, for being so earless I told him as M*" 
Duchee prays for us every Day I thought there was no need to 
take Care of ourselves, he told me God helps them who help 
themselves — M^ Hancock is a better Doctor, as he has some- 
thing of y^ Gout himself h has promised me some Pine buds 
to make Tea, however I have shut my Windows these 2 Nights 
& y^ Pain is almost gone off, it never hurt my Eating & Drink- 
ing — I dont like your Notion of coming here, the Horse trots 
rough & the mare is skittish, & all your male friends are at 
Camp & all your female ones in the Country, besides as you 
Cant bring the Children with you it woud distress them to be 
left behind ... if you cant reason down your inclination I woud 
rather you woud go to your brother Billy's & send Caezar up 
& I woud leave to go that far — But woud rather you woud send 
Caezar with the Horses to Philad.^. next week, & I will get 
leave to go home for some time — the week after — Excuse all 
this stuff & believe me to be your afR^ husband &c [.]" 
^^ See p. 225. 



CHAPTER IX 



^ For his letters — of similar Import — to Dallas and Rodney, 
see Appendix^ pp. 299 and 301, respectively. 
2 See Appendix^ p. 303. 

^ This was published In the Register at the request of John 

495 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Adams* He wrote to Niles, from Quincy, June 30th. See 
note 4, post. 

* M : Kean died, June 24th. 

5 M : Kean is mistaken. New York did not vote at all; 
and Jefferson's notes show that South Carolina also voted 
against it. 

^ M : Kean is evidently referring here to the report of the 
committee of the whole to Congress upon the resolution adopted by 
it on the 1st of which he has just spoken. If so, this statement 
is incorrect; for (See p. 165) this report was adopted by Congress 
on the 2d. On the ^f.th^ Congress adopted the report of the 
committee of the whole upon the Declaration itself — its matter 
and form. 

7 Caesar Augustus Rodney writes to M : Kean from Wilming- 
ton, August 22, 1 8 13: "[PM] But by accident [I] have lost 
or mislaid the letter you wrote to my uncle when at your own 
expence you dispatched an express for him to come to Philadt & 
vote on the question of Independence, the States having been 
equally divided, & the State of Delaware itself giving no vote, 
as you were for it, & M' Read against it. I think you informed 
me, that you did not see him until you found him conversing 
with M^ Read in the Statehouse yard, and that when he came 
into Congress, you rose & stated ' that congress had been equally 
divided on the great question, & that the State of Delaware itself 
was also equally divided, & it remained with him to give the cast- 
ing vote. That it was for this important purpose, you had, at 
your own expence sent for him.' Upon which he immediately 
observed, that he should vote for Independence as he believed all 
the honest men were in favor of It. I regret to lose a paper 
that would show how much the independence of this country 
depended on your own individual exertions as nothing should 
be lost to posterity on so interesting a subject. I should be 
glad to receive from you when leisure will admit, the candid 

496 



\m 



NOTES TO TEXT 

account you have given me of this important transaction." 
(For M:Kean's reply, see Appendix^ p. 301.) 

^ He was in Congress doubtless as late as June 5th ; for he 
was chosen upon 'a committee on that day. Also, see note 28, 
chapter IV. (On March 6th, he writes from Newcastle to 
M:Kean and Read : " [GR] I am ordered by the House to re- 
quire your immediate attendance, unless business of the first im- 
portance should make your stay in Congress necessary: if so, 
you are immediately to let the House know it." He was chosen 
upon a committee — in Congress — on April 29th; see note 37, 
chapter 111 ; and he was chosen upon a committee on May 8th.) 

On November 3, 1776, Rodney writes from Dover: " [N] I 
am in a better state of Health than When I left Philadelphia, and 
Tho' Verry Much Engaged in business, have many, not only pleas- 
ing, but Laughable Reflections : Among Others, the happyness 
my Good Landlady must feel in my being so far removed from 
the Backgammon-Tables which so often interrupted her Evening 
Repose ... If it should be my misfortune to be obHdged to 
leave home and attend Congress, I Shall be with you — You will 
be pleased to make my Compliments to M.! Elliry . . ." 

* See "Caesar Rodney's Fourth of July, 1776" in Poetical 
Addresses of Geo. Alfred Townsend. 

^^ This, as stated^ is an error. The vote upon the ph was 
not upon the question of " independence " but upon the adoption 
of the Declaration itself The same error is found at other places 
in this letter. We believe, however, that Rodney did vote upon 
the question of independence^ as M:Kean says, but that it was (See 
note 29, chapter VII) upon the 2d. 

^^ If we are correct in our belief (See note 29, chapter VII) 

that Rodney returned on the 2d (and not on the 4th as M:Kean 

says), and if, as seems natural, M:Kean associated in memory 

the absence of Dickinson with the return of Rodney, then we 

32 497 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

must understand this to mean that Dickinson was absent on 
the 2d. 

Even if so, however, he was probably absent on the 4th also; 
though JefFerson — having, as we believe (See Appendix^ note 
20), inserted in his notes the word "present" — says, in his 
letter of May 12, 18 19, to Wells, that Dickinson " refused" to 
sign (on the 4th), implying his presence in Congress on that day. 

Certainly, Dickinson's absence (on both the 2d and 4th), in 
view of the stand he had taken, would not, we think, have been 
unnatural. 

We know that, on the 9th, Clark writes from Philadelphia, 
to Samuel Tucker : " [NE] I expect the Militia of Phil^ will 
begin to March today — " and that, on the 15th, Carpenter 
Wharton writes from Trenton, to Hancock : " Colonel Dick- 
inson's battalion have just marched for Woodbridge . . ." 

12 If we are correct in our belief (See note 29, chapter VII) 
that Rodney returned on the 2d (and not on the 4th as M:Kean 
says), and if, as seems natural, M:Kean associated in memory the 
absence of Morris with the return of Rodney, then we must un- 
derstand this to mean that Morris was absent on the 2d, 

Indeed, the Journal for July /fih says : " Ordered that M' 
Morris h W" Hewes determine the hire of M' Walker's vessel " ; 
and we know that Robert Morris was on the Marine Committee. 
Moreover, the minutes of the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania 
show that, at a special meeting, held — following a regular meet- 
ing — on fuly ^th^ a notice of the conference called that day by 
Congress to raise and march militia to aid the neighboring Colonies 
was received and entered and that this notice closed with : " [Pa] 
I am, Gent'n, Your obed't Serv't, Sign'd Rob't Morris. To the 
Hon'ble the Committee of Safety. July 4th, 1776." 

JefFerson also (as we shall see : see p. 200), however, says 
that Morris was absent on the 4th ; but it will be borne in mind 
that he says so only in his letter of May 12, 18 19, to Wells, 

498 



NOTES TO TEXT 

written after the publication of MiKearCs letter to Messrs. JVm, 
M'Corkle ^ Son, Without doubt, he simply followed M:Kean. 

# 

Certain it is that Morris — like Dickinson — honestly believed 
in the position which he took. 

His patriotism is beyond question. John Adams, on April 
27th, writing to Gates, says : " [NY] You ask me what you 
are to think of Rob* Morris ? — I will tell you what I think of 
him — I think he has a masterly Understanding, an open Tem- 
per and an honest Heart : and if he does not always vote for 
What you and I should think proper, it is because he thinks that 
a large Body of People remains, who are not yet of his Mind. — 
He has vast designs in the mercantile Way. And no doubt pur- 
sues mercantile Ends, which are always gain; but he is an excel- 
lent member of our Body — " Nor did Adams* opinion change 
(See p. 191) after the question of independence came before 
Congress, or, indeed, after Morris' stated absence. 

The only light which we have from Morris himself is a letter 
of July 2 1 St (and a letter in similar vein to Gates, dated 
October, 1777*. see The Pennsylvania Alagazine of History and 
Biography^ I, 336) : see p. 227. 

tttf ■ 

Morris writes to John Nicholson, February 5, 1798: " [Ts] 
If writing Notes could relieve me you would do it sooner than 
any man in the world but all you have said in those now before 
me N° 5 to 9 inclusive amount when summed up to nothing. 
My Money is gone, my Furniture is to be sold, I am to go to 
Prison & my Family to Starve — '' 

^^ If we are correct in our belief (See note 29, chapter VII) 
that Rodney returned on the 2d (and not on the 4th as M:Kean 
says), and if, as seems natural, M:Kean associated in memory 
the presence of " only five members " with the return of Rod- 
ney, then we must understand this to mean that Willing and 

499 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Humphreys were " against it " (as, of course, he says they were 
on the I St also : see Appendix^ p. 303) on the 2d. Of course, 
they may have been present on the 4th also ; but see p. 200 
(and note 46, post^. 

1* M:Kean is mistaken. New York did not vote on the ist, 
the 2d or the 4th. 

^^ MiKean (like many others, and doubtless as the casual 
reader would, though see p. 196) has drawn an inference from 
this Journal which its words do not justify. 

The Declaration, as it appears therein, is headed as follows : 
"A DECLARATION by the Reprefentatives of the United 
STATES of AMERICA in congrefs affembled." Below ap- 
pears the following : " The foregoing declaration was by order 
[July 19th: see p. 208] of Congress engrossed and signed by the 
following members:"; and then come the names of Hancock 
and of the other signers (except that of MiKean) — the other 
signers being grouped by Colonies, in the order of their situation 
geographically, from north to south. 

The first two paragraphs in the rough Journal following the 
Declaration (See p. 170) are not printed. 

As we shall see, there are no names in either the rough or the 
corrected Journal. 

1^ It v/iil be noted that this statement does not appear in his 
letter of 1796 to Dallas (See Appendix^ p. 299) — his first upon 
the subject. It appears, however, in his letter of 1813 to 
Rodney (See Appendix^ p. 301). 

^"^ It is doubtless true that he was present in Congress on 
both July 2d and 4th, and it seems certain that he favored a 
declaration ; but he did not vote at all upon the question of 
independence, and the reason why his name does not appear in 
the printed Journal is that he was absent when the Declaration 
on parchment was signed and never signed it. 

See Wisner^ note 39, chapter IX. 

500 



NOTES TO TEXT 

^' Why his name does not appear in the printed Journal (Also^ 
see note i, chapter XIII) has never been accounted for, though 
various theories have at different times been advanced. 

Bancroft (though upon what authority he does not state) and 
Mellen Chamberlain (See "The Authentication of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, July 4, 1776 " in Proceedings of the Mas^ 
sachusetts Historical Society^ ser. 2, vol. i, p. 272), following him, 
maintain even that M:Kean did not sign until 1781. (Can it be 
that Bancroft was lead so to state by misreading the letter of 
M:Kean of June 16, 181 7, to Messrs. Wm. M'Corkle & Son, 
Jppendix^ P- 304 

The Diary of Richard Smith for September 26, 1775, bays: 
". . . the Journal was read in Order for Publication and some 
Parts of it ordered not to be printed as improper for Public 
Inspection . . ." The Journal for the same day tells us : 
" The Committee appointed to examine the journal of the Con- 
gress during last Sessions reported a copy which was ordered to 
be read." The same Diary for January i, 9 and 16, 1776, 
respectively, shows us : " We finished reading the Journal and 
sundry Passages were marked, according to Custom as improper 
for present Publication." " A Letter from L*^ Stirling enclosing 
a Packet which he caused to be intercepted near Elizabeth Town 
containing ... a printed Journal of Congress ... a Copy of 
a Petition of our Assembly against Independency . . ." " Duane 
and E. Rutledge were desired to rectify a Mistake in the Journals 
now printing . . ." The Journal for March 21, 1776, says: 
"Resolved That a committee be appointed to superintend the 
printing the Journals of Congress, & if the present printer 
cannot execute the work with sufficient expedition, that they be 
empowered to employ another printer[.] " 

On September 26, 1776, as given in the Journal, it was: 
" Resolved, That the committee appointed to superintend the 

501 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

publications of the journals be empowered & instructed to 
employ Robert Aitken to reprint the said journals from the 
beginning with all possible expedition & continue to print the 
same; and that this house will purchase of him 500 copies 
of the said journals when reprinted : And further that he be 
directed to purchase on reasonable terms such parts of the 
journals as M"" Bradford & Cist & C? have printed & not yet 
published to be paid for by Congress." 

The Journal as printed by Aitken under the resolve of Sep- 
tember 26, 1776, is in two volumes, the first containing the pro- 
ceedings of Congress from September 5, 1774, through 
December, 1775, the second, the proceedings during 1776. 
It bears the following: "PRINTED AND SOLD BY R. 
AITKEN, BOOKSELLER, FRONT-STREET, M,DCC,- 
LXXVII ", together with the first portion of the resolve of 
September 26, 1776. 

# 

In Aitken's Waste Book^ now in The Library Company of 
Philadelphia, we find, under October 4, 1776: "Congress for 
War Office Dl^ To 12 Journals Janr to May 1776" and 
" D^ Witherspoon — D^ To Journals of Congress Jan'' to 
May " ; under the 5th : " Congress — T>1^ to 2 Journals Jan. 
to May 76 for Mr Gerry"; under the 8th: "Congress Dr« — 
— To 50 Journals of Congress"; under the nth: "Mr R. 
Bell printer Dr . . . To 12 Journals of Congress in Sheets", 
" Comittee Treasury T John Gibson Esqr — Dr To i Journals 
of Congress " and " Library Comp7 D" To 3 Journals of 
Congress"; under the i8th : "Mr. John Montgomery Dr 
. . . To 4 Journals of Congress ", " War Office Dr^ Journals 
of Congress " and " W? Hooper Esqr of Congress Dr for 
S. Carolina To 12 Journals paid by R A. To Bradford . . . To 

502 



NOTES TO TEXT 

12 Journals JanT to May . . . both b^ together"; under the 
22cl : " Mr Sellers paper mould Makr D^ To 2 Vols Journals 
of Congress" and " Geo Walton Esqf D' To Journals of Con- 
gress 1775 . • . To I D? printed by Aitken bound"; under 
the 23d : " Congress D^^ for Cha! Thomson Esq^ 2 Journals 
8 M? Brad? & Aitk? bound together " and « Geo. Walton Esqf 
Dl: . . . 12 Journals of Congress in boards ... 12 Journals 
1775 Bradfd? Edit."; under the 26th: " M^ Rob^ Wells 
Books!: S? Carolina D\ To 38 for 30 Journals of Congress in 
h^^ . . . To 28 Journals p""!^ by Bradford"; under the 30th: 
« Mess'.' Bradfords D-'f To 6 Journals of Cong"".' Janr to Jun " 
and " Mes? Bradfords D" By 30 Journals of Congress Con^^ 
four [?] Months Stitched " ; under November 4th : " Mess? 
Bradford's D"".® To Sundries 12 Journals in boards"; under the 
7th : " Congress — D? for John Hart i Journals of Congress 
in boards"; under the 8th: " M^ Aaron Hunter Dr 30 for 
24 Journals of Congress" and " Cl; Mess'® Bradfords — 6 Jour- 
nals of Congress" ; under the 19th: " Mess? Bradfords printers 
D? To 6 Journals of Congress"; under January 26, 1777: 
" Mr Robert Bell — Dr To 6 Journals of Con- 
gress" ; under May 2d : "Matthew Thornton Esqr Dr for Con- 
gress Journals of Congress 2 Vols " ; under the 13th : " Congress 

D? To 100 Journals of Congr. : Vol : if 

... in blue Boards " ; under the 20th : " Delivered to R. H. 
Lee, F. L. Lee & M. Page for Congress — 3 Journals of Con- 
gress Vol. 1.51" and " Congress Dr For 600 

Journals of Congress V? i'^ in blue Boards"; under June 3d : 
" Mr Rob^ Bell .... Cr for Stitching 300 V°f Journ? Con- 
gress of Vol: i'^ in Boards"; and, under October 4th: 
"Congress D? To 14 Rms if Edit Journl' of Congress 
by their Order delivered to M^ Flowers — for the purpose 
of Cartridges ". 

This contains also the following entries, in 1777 : 

503 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

[May 13] 

Congress ... D5 

To 100 Journals of Congr: Vol: i? . . • 

in blue Boards ... 

[May 20] 

Congress ... D! 

For 600 Journals of Congress V° i^' 
In blue Boards . . . 

An entry under date of December 14, 1778, says: 

United States D? 

1777 ... 
May 21 . . . 

1778 ... 
Aug. 14 . . . 

To printing Journals of Congress 
700 Copies cont? 26| sheets . . . 

I printed for 800 Vol. 2? of Jour 
nals of Congress, I allow 50 fewer 
of above N? Said books were car- 
ried to Lancaster & committed to 
care of M' Dunlap I find of 750 
copies only 532 delivered wanting 
in all 218 — I allow @ 22/6 
as they have been lost or embezzled . • • 
218 Vol. I'* are on hand & lost 
to me over & above on Acco^ 
of the 2? Vols Missing 
I desire to be heard on this affair 

Of course, we do not know when the subject-matter was 
set up in type. 

See note 15, supra, 

% 
In The Library Company of Philadelphia (Ridgeway Branch) 
and in The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, 

504 



NOTES TO TEXT 

is a volume containing the proceedings from January i through 
April, 1776; and these bear: "Philadelphia: Printed by R. 
Aitken, Bookseller, opposite the London CofFee-house, Front- 
Street. M,DCC,LXXVI." 

Of this printing, Aitken speaks (in his Waste Book) as follows, 
under date of January 2, 1779 (stating: " N.B. This Acco' 
should precede y* on y? opposite Page ") : 

United States D'? 

To printing Journals of Congress from 
Feb. I — 1776 to Apr. 29 - — inclusive 
on a pica type contain! 15 sheets 
8^° . . . 

at this period of printing I vi^as 
ordered to print no more on this 
1776 large type, & to begin a New Edit, 
beginning w* first ■ of Cong! 

which rend^ sale of above abortive 
C: — Meantime I sold 80 . . . 
Also 14 Rfns of this Edit to — 
Benj Flowers for the Use of 
army for Cartriges ... 

Some few were sold evidently by reason of an advertisement 
placed by Aitken in The Pennsylvania 'Journal^ etc., (and in The 
Pennsylvania Gazette^ C and N, of October 9, I'J'jd-, and, we 
understand, in 2^he Pennsylvania Packet of October 3d and later 
issues). This appears as follows in its issue (Rid) of October 9, 
1776: 

This day is published, printed, and to be sold by ROBERT 
AITKEN, Printer and Bookseller opposite the London CofFee- 
House, Front street, containing nearly 240 pages, large Octavo, 
in blue boards (price One Dollar) the JOURNALS of the 
PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS, held at Philadelphia, from 
January to May 1776. 

% 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

In the same paper (and later issues) appears the following 
announcement : 

TO-MORROW will be Published and Sold by WILLIAM 
& THOMAS BRADFORD, The Journal of the Proceedings 
of the CONGRESS Held at Philadelphia, from September to 
January last. 

A copy of this is in The Library Company of Philadelphia 
(Ridgeway Branch) ; and it bears : " Journal of the Proceedings 
of the Congress, Held at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, 
Through December 30, 1775 Philadelphia: Printed by Wil- 
liam and Thomas Bradford, at the London Coffee-House. M,DCC, 
LXXIV." 

1^ We cannot find this. 

20 He appears in the chair at a conference held in the State 
House at 7 o'clock on the morning of the 5th to decide upon 
the best means of defending New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 
Some time before the 15th, though we do not know just when, 
he left Philadelphia with his regiment. 

21 This does not seem to be true. As early as August 28th^ 
Caesar Rodney writes, from Philadelphia to Thomas Rodney : 
" I wrote Mr. Mc Kean at Amboy, and desired he would give 
immediate attention at the Convention [called for the 27th, at 
Newcastle]. He got my letter, and in consequence thereof 
came to Philadelphia on Sunday [the 25th] night last, and set 
out yesterday morning very early to New-Castle . . ." M:Kean 
himself writes, from Newcastle, to Cassar Rodney, September 
igth : " [N] Your favor of the lO^^ instant was delivered to 
M! Read by your boy ... As I write this scrawl, while facts 
are recent & fresh in my memory, please to preserve it until I 
see you, which will be in a day or two. — " (The Convention 
adjourned on the 21st.) Six days later (the 25th), and on the 
2'^th^ he was chosen upon a committee in Congress ; and, on 

506 



NOTES TO TEXT 

the 28th^ Philip Livingston writes that the latter committee 
"have promised us to report on Monday next . . ." On October 
loth^ he signs a letter headed " [Ts] In Marine Committee ". 
Marshall's Diary for the 21st says: "Thence to State House Yard 
. . . Chief Speakers, against Convention, were Col. Mc Kean 
and Col. Dickinson . . ." On November i8th^ Caesar Rodney 
writes, from Dover: "I sent to the care of Thomas Mc Kean, 
Esq., in Philadelphia, by John Palmer, shallop-man, sixty blan- 
kets and all the clothes of any kind whatsoever that could be 
procured here suitable for the Delaware battalion." The Diary 
of Thomas Rodney (See Papers of the Historical Society of Dela- 
ware^ for December i6th says : " At Christiana Bridge I met 
with Mr. Mc Kean . , . and several other members of Con- 
gress on their way from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and spent the 
evening with them . . ." 

22 The language of his letter (of 1796) to Dallas is different. 

23 \Ye cannot find this ; nor do there seem to be any indica- 
tions of any " stitches ". 

2* See facing p. 204. 

25 See Appendix^ note 19. 

^ The committee of the whole. 

27 See Appendix^ note 20. 

28 A copy of the letter to Messrs. Wm. M'Corkle & Son, 
clipped from some newspaper (which we have been unable to 
locate) of June 27, 181 7, is — loose — among the Jefferson 
papers (formerly in the Department of State) now in the 
Library of Congress. It would appear formerly to have been 
" sewed into the Ms." of the notes at the end of the Declaration 
(See Appendix^ p. 297); for Thomas Jefferson Randolph, in 
Memoir^ Correspondence and Miscellanies from the Papers of Thomas 
Jefferson^ as a note to the words " which I took in like manner " 
on the slip of paper there pasted, into the notes^ says : " The 
above note of the author is on a slip of paper, pasted in at the 

507 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

end of the Declaration, Here is also sewed into the MS. a slip 
of newspaper containing, under the head ' Declaration of Inde- 
pendence,' a letter from Thomas M'Kean to Messrs. William 
M'Corkle & Son, dated 'Philadelphia, June i6, 1817.'" 

29 This letter was sent first to John Adams ; for JefFerson 
writes to him, from Monticello, May 15, 1819 : " [P] Mf S. A. 
Wells . . . has made some inquiries of me relative to revolu- 
tionary antiquities which are within your knolege as well as 
mine. I therefore put my answer under your cover, and open 
for your perusal and animadversion to learn if I have committed 
any error. I fear none where I have taken facts from written 
notes, in other parts there may be error, when read, will you 
have the goodness to insert a wafer & return the letter to the 
post office ? " We have not been able, however, to find any 
expression of Adams upon the subject following its receipt. 

^ See note 69, chapter II. 

21 See p. 233. 

22 See note 28, supra. 

^ See Appendix^ p. 295. 

^* These brackets, of course, are in the original MS.^ 

^ The letters " ea " of " Kean " are written over ai. 

^ See note 28, supra, 

^^ There were a few, who, though by right members either on 
July 4th or on August 2d (or on both days), cannot have signed 
a Declaration on paper on July ^th and who did not sign the 
Declaration on parchment, 

n 

As to those from New York, see note 39, post -j from Pennsyl- 
vania, note 44, />5J/; and from Maryland, note $1^ post. 

# 
There were also Langdon (See note 89, post) and Hosmer, 
an alternate (See note 99, post), 

508 



NOTES TO TEXT 

John Rutledge seems to have been another. 

He, with Thomas Lynch, Henry Middleton, Gadsden and 
Edward Rutledge, was reelected, November 29, 1775. 

He and Henry Middleton, as shown by the secret domestic 
Journal, left Congress sometime prior to January i, 1776; and 
the proceedings of the Provincial Congress show that, on 
February 2d, they, "being lately returned from Philadelphia, 
being in their places as Members of this Congress,*' took part in 
its proceedings. 

Gadsden (and son) also, as told by Marshall, in his Diary^ for 
January 17, 1776, "Near seven . . . came to take their leave, 
they being to embark for South Carolina to-morrow"; and the 
proceedings of the Provincial Congress for February 9th show 
that he, " having arrived last night, and being present in his 
place, as a Member of this Congress, for Charlestown," was 
thanked for his services at Philadelphia. 

(It is of him that Nelson speaks when he writes to JefFerson 
from Philadelphia on the 4th — of February : " [S] You would be 
surprized to see with how much dispatch we have done business 
since Dyer & Gaddesden left us. The former you know was 
superseeded & the latter was orderd home to take command of 
his Regiment." See, however, pp. 12 and 88.) 

A week after (February i6th) Gadsden arrived, a new election 
for Delegates was held ; and, though John Rutledge had, the 
day before, requested the Provincial Congress to dispense with 
his further attendance upon the Continental Congress, because 
he felt that he could be of more service to the cause at home, he 
was again reelected. He does not seem to have resigned nor 
does any one else seem to have been chosen in his place follow- 
ing his election, March 27th, as President of the new govern- 
ment (See p. 88). 

The new delegation were (Also, see note 38, post^ John 
Rutledge, as stated, Thomas Lynch, Edward Rutledge, Arthur 

509 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Middleton and Thomas Hey ward, Jr., — Henry Middleton and 
Gadsden being left out. Arthur Middleton was chosen doubtless 
out of compliment to his father, Henry Middleton, who, on the 
day of the election (Also, see note 72, chapter II), asked the 
Provincial Congress not to reelect h'lm because " of infirmities of 
age ". 

Heyward appeared in Congress, April 24th. John Adams 
writes, in his Autobiography: " [J] On him we could always depend 
for sound measures, though he seldom spoke in public." Arthur 
Middleton was chosen upon a committee. May 20th. He seems, 
according to John Adams, to have been prevailed upon by the 
" proprietary gentlemen " in Philadelphia to oppose a declaration 
of independence. Both signed the Declaration on parchment 
now in the Department of State. 

t 

Yet others were Houston and Bullock. 

Houston would seem to have been in Philadelphia as late as 
December 14, 1775, for he was chosen upon a committee 
(which, however, was of such character as to have one member 
from each Colony) on that day ; though Hewes writes to Samuel 
Johnston from Philadelphia, November 26th : " [Cs] for other 
matters of News I refer you to the Bearer, M' Houston who is 
one of the Georgia delegates to whom I doubt not you will shew 
every Civility . . ." Sanderson says : "[B] During the deliber- 
ations of congress, a few members had privately discussed the 
propriety of a Declaration . . . Zubly . . . secretly despatched 
a letter to the British governor, containing a full disclosure of 
this important state secret, and advising him to adopt preventive 
measures in Georgia. Fortunately, however, a copy of this 
communication was obtained by one of the clerks, and Mr. 
Chase [Chase was appointed a commissioner to go to Canada, it 
will be remembered, on February 15, 1776, and left, the latter 
part of March j and, indeed, Zubly was not reelected at the elec- 



NOTES TO TEXT 

tion held in Savannah, February 2d] . . . openly accused Dr. 
Zubly of treachery. Zubly stoutly denied the charge, and chal- 
lenged his accuser to produce the proofs. Finding, however, 
that his perfidy would be clearly established, he immediately fled. 
Mr. Houston was directed to pursue him, and to adopt every 
expedient measure to counteract any evils that might result from 
the disclosure." We know that, on September 14, iJJSy 
Richard Smith writes in his Diary: "these Motions were op- 
posed by Chase and J. Adams and supported by Nelson, Hous- 
toun and Dr. Zubley. the latter out of Humor with Chase " ; 
and we know that Zubly writes to Houston and Bullock (?) : 
" [N] I am Setting off for Georgia greatly indisposd You will 
doubtless reach home before me tho You should not depart these 
ten days, in Case of my first Arrival I think not to make any 
Report to our Council of Safety till we are all present. I have 
left my Case with Spirits [?] at my Lodgings (having a smaler [?] 
one [?] ) which I advise You to take with You well filed if 
You do not mean to drink whiskey &c by the [?] Way, it will 
either suit You or Mess Habersham [?] Should I arrive before 
You I will not fail to acquaint Your friends but I can only 
travel slow — I wish You a pleasant Journey [.] " 

Bullock was in Congress doubtless as late as February 23d 
(1776) ; for he was appointed upon a committee on that day. 
As we have already seen (See note 100, chapter HI), he writes to 
John Adams from Savannah, Ga., however. May ist, and, on 
May 2d, he writes from the same place to Samuel Adams : 
" [SA] The Gentleman, Major Walton, who is the Bearer of 
this, will most readily inform you ... A Pamphlet has lately 
appeared among us entitled Common Sense; By the numerous 
Editions it has gone thro', we may form an Idea of its Success. 
With respect to myself, I cannot but coincide with the Author 
in his Sentiments, and think his Reasonings clear and Demon- 
strative. What blessed Fruit [?] we might expect from a Recon- 

511 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

ciliation, I cannot discern, or why we shouM leave a Work for 
our Posterity to finish, whenever Providence, and everything 
around us, seem to dictate to the intelligent Mind, that the 
Time of Separation is fully come. — " John Adams replies, 
July 1st, to the letter to him: "[J] Two days ago I received 
your favor of May ist, I was greatly disappointed. Sir, in the 
information you gave me, that you should be prevented from 
revisiting Philadelphia. I had flattered myself with hopes of 
your joining us soon, and not only affording us the additional 
strength of your abilities and fortitude, but enjoying the satisfac- 
tion at seeing a temper and conduct here somewhat more agree- 
able to your wishes than those which prevailed when you were 
here before. But I have since been informed that your country- 
men have done themselves the justice to place you at the head 
of their affairs . . . Your colleagues. Hall and Gwinnet, are 
here in good health and spirits, and as firm as you yourself could 
wish them. Present my compliments to Mr. Houston . . ." 
He does not seem to have resigned nor does anyone else seem 
to have been chosen in his place following his election as Presi- 
dent of the new government. 

(John Adams writes to his wife in September, 1775: "[Ad] 
Mr. Bullock is another of the Georgia delegates — a sensible 
man — a planter, I suppose. Mr. Houston is the third, a young 
lawyer, of modesty as well as sense and spirit, which you will 
say is uncommon.") 

3^ On March 23, 1776, the Provincial Congress of South 
Carolina " Resolved, That Thomas Lynch, Jun., Esq., on 
account of the alarming ill state of health of his father, one of 
the Delegates from this Colony, at Philadelphia, have leave of 
absence." It also was resolved that a new Delegate to Congress 
— a sixth — be chosen; and, on the ballot, Thomas Lynch, Jr.* 
was duly elected. See note 96, chapter IIL He was chosen 
upon a committee in Congress, June 5th. 

512 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Thomas Lynch, Sr., " on account of his III state of health 
. . . [was given] leave to return to this Colony, if he shall 
think it necessary." Hewes, in a letter to Samuel Johnston, 
written at Philadelphia, March ist, tells us: " [NC] Hooper is 
not yet returned from Boston, I expect him every moment, Penn 
is now writing to the Council of Safety which Letter I shall 
sign for Hooper & Self, an express is now waiting, he is sent to 
S° Carolina by the delegates of that Province to inform them of 
this days appointments and of the Critical state of M' Lynch's 
health who a few days ago [February i8th] had an appoplectic 
stroke and is now in great danger." Also, see note 96, chapter 
in. See, however, note 28, chapter VKI ; and we know that the 
elder Lynch signed letters dated Philadelphia, July 9th and 25th. 

If^ therefore, the Declaration was signed on July ph on paper 
by those Jefferson here mentions, both father and son may (very 
possibly) have signed that Declaration, though the latter only 
signed the Declaration on parchment. 

When — after July 25th — the elder Lynch left Philadelphia, 
we have not been able to ascertain : but we know that, as early 
as May 29th, Jay writes from New York to Duane : '*"[Z] Be so 
kind as to inform M' Lynch that I have not yet been able to 
procure a horse for him. We find mares fit for riding have, 
in consequence of the resolve of Congress forbidding races, been 
put to breeding; and I believe it will be difficult to get a hand- 
some gelding, I shall however continue my inquiries, and should 
I meet with anything very clever, shall perhaps be very lavish 
of his guineas " ; and The Pennsylvania Evening Post (T) of 
February 22, 1777, gives, as a communication from Charleston, 
S. C, of December 12, 1776 : "DEATHS. At Annapolis, on 
his way home, THOMAS LYNCH, Esq; one of our Dele- 
gates at the Continental Congress." 

2^ Jefferson's language leaves us in doubt as to which Delegates 
he means by "N. York" and makes it impossible either to 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

confirm or to disprove his statement by proof of the presence or 
absence of such members in Congress on July 15th. He does 
not state even that he means those Delegates v^^-ho signed the 
Declaration on parchment — Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis 
Lewis and Lewis Morris. 

It is interesting, however, to know who only of the New 
York Delegates could have signed on that day, if Jefferson's 
statement about a Declaration on paper be true. 

The representative body of New York, on April 21, 1775, 
elected Philip Livingston, Duane, Alsop, Jay, Boerum, Floyd, 
Wisner, Schuyler, Clinton, Lewis Morris, Francis Lewis and 
R. R. Livingston to attend the Congress which was to convene 
in Philadelphia on May lOth. On December 21st of the same 
year, the representative body resolved that the Delegates thus 
elected should arrange among themselves so that only five of their 
number would attend upon Congress at one time. 

Jay writes from Philadelphia to R. R. Livingston, March 4, 
1776: " [Z] I wrote you last week from Elizabethtown . . . 
The Committee for Canada was appointed [February 15th] 
before I reached this place." We know that he was still in 
Philadelphia on April 27th. 

On May 17th (Also, see Duane's letter of the i6th^ note 119, 
chapter III), however, R. R. Livingston wnies from Philadelphia 
to Jay: " [Z] You have by this time sounded our people " ; and, 
certainly as early as May 24th, Jay was in attendance upon the 
Provincial Congress, sitting in New York City. 

On May 29th, Jay writes, to R. R. Livingston from that 
city : " [Z] I shall again take a solitary ride to Philadelphia, 
whenever the Convention [Provincial Congress], who directed 
me to abide here until their further order, shall think proper to 

514 



NOTES TO TEXT 

dismiss me " ; and, on June 29th, as shown by the proceedings 
of that body, " Mr. Jay asked for, and obtained leave to go to 
Elizabethtown, and is to return on Monday morning." 

Two days' after (July 6th) the Declaration was adopted by 
Congress, Jay writes, to Edward Rutledge : " [Z] Your friendly 
letter [See p. 139] found me [still in New York City] . . . 
engaged by plots, conspiracies, and chimeras dire . . . Your idea 
of men and things (to speak mathematically) run, for the most 
part, parallel with my own ; and I wish Governour Tryon and 
the devil had not prevented my joining you on the occasion you 
mentioned. How long I may be detained here is uncertain, but 
I see little prospect of returning to you for a month or two yet 
to come. We have a government, you know, to form; and 
God only knows what it will resemble . . . My compliments 
to Messrs. Braxton, Lynch, and such others as I esteem, — of 
which number rank yourself, my dear Ned, among the first." 

Three days later, the Convention met — at White Plains; and 
Jay was present. He was still there on the 15th. 

On the 22d, however, Robert Yates writes from Poughkeepsie: 
" Mr. Jay is gone to Salisbury for cannon " ; and, on the 26th, 
Trumbull writes from Lebanon, Conn. : " Mr. Jay came here 
on Friday for the loan of cannon to use on the North River." 
Jay himself writes, from Salisbury, July 29th, to his wife : " [Z] I 
am now returning to Poughkeepsie, where I am to meet some 
members of the Convention on the 7th of August." 

Jefferson, writing at Monticello, September 4, 1823, to John 
Adams, says : " [P] I observe your toast of rnr Jay on the 
4* of July, wherein you say that the omission of his signature 
to the Declaration of Independance was by accident, our im- 
pressions as to this fact being different, I shall be glad to have 
mine corrected, if wrong. Jay, you know, had been in constant 
opposition to our laboring majority, our estimate, at the time, 
was that he, Dickinson & Johnson of Maryland by their ingen- 

515 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

uity, perseverance and partiality to our English connection, had 
constantly kept us a year behind where we ought to have been 
in our preparations and proceedings, from about the date of 
the Virginia instructions of May 15. 76. to declaration of Inde- 
pendancy mr Jay absented himself from Congress, and never 
came there again until Dec. 78. of course he had no part in 
the discussion or decision of that question." 

Adams replies, from Quincy, September 13th of the same 
year : " [S] It is true that Mr Jay, Mr Dickinson, and M"^ John- 
son, contributed to retard many vigorous measures, and particu- 
larly the vote of Independence untill he left Congress, but I have 
reason to think he would have concured in that vote when it 
was taken if he had been there. His absence was accidental — 
Congress on the fifteenth of May preceeding, as I remember had 
recommended to all the States to . . . institute ... a new Gov- 
ernment . . . Mr Jay had promoted his resolution in New York 
by adviseing them to call a Convention to frame a new Con- 
stitution, he had been chosen a Member of that Convention, 
and called home by his Constituents to assist in it . . . M^ Jay 
was immediately appointed Chief Justice of the State, and obliged 
to enter immediately on the duties of his Office, which occasioned 
his detention from Congress afterwards, but I have no doubt, had 
he been in Congress at the time he would have subscribed to the 
Declaration of Independence, he would have been neither re- 
called by his Constituents nor have left Congress himself, like 
Mr Dickinson, M"" WiUing, Governor [William] Livingston, 
and several others — " 

ft 

The New-Tor k Journal^ etc., (C) of July 20, 1775, says : " On 
Tuesday the nth Instant died, after two Hours illness, of a 
Bilious Disorder, at his House on Long Island, Simon Boerum, 
Esq. . . ." 

t 
516 



NOTES TO TEXT 

A Second Memorial of Henry Wisner by Franklin Burdge says : 
"I have a copy of the first edition [of Common Sense'\^ with the 
following letter written on the margin of the first page : ' Sir, I 
have only to ask the favor of you to read this pamphlet, consult- 
ing Mr. Scott and such of the Committee of Safety as you think 
proper, particularly Orange and Ulster, and let me know their 
and your opinion of the general spirit of it. I would have wrote 
a letter on the subject, but the bearer is waiting. Henry Wisner, 
at Philadelphia. To John Mc Kesson, at New York.' " (See 
The Life of Thomas Paine^ etc., by Cheetham, p. 4,7, note.) 

According to his Memorial of Wisner^ in May, 1776, Wisner 
was in Orange County, N. Y., engaged in erecting two powder 
mills. Data in the ofiiice of the Comptroller of the State of New 
York would indicate that Wisner charged for 14 days' " Service 
in Provincial Congress" during that month. He was chosen 
upon a committee in Congress on June 7th, however; and he 
signs letters dated Philadelphia, June 8th, 17th and 27th and 
July 2d. Moreover, see pp. 140 and 194 and Appendix^ pp. 
300, 302 and 305. 

He was, without doubt, therefore, in Congress on July 4th 
and 15th. Indeed, Congress, as shown by the Journal, on the 
4th, " Resolved that M"" Wisner be empowered to send a man at 
the public expense to Orange county for a sample of flint stone ", 
and, on the i6th, "Resolved That M"^ Wisner be empowered to 
employ a proper person to manufacture gun-flints. — " 

It seems likely that he again left Philadelphia immediately after 
the last resolve. Certainly at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 
23d, he was in attendance upon the Convention, at White Plains. 
He was there also at least until the morning of the 27th ; and 
we find him chosen upon a committee there on August 6th and 
again recorded as present on the morning of the 7th. 

517 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Schuyler was with his army. On August 2, 1776, he writes, 
to Washington, from " [S] German-Flatts ". 

Philip Livingston, as we have seen, was present in the Provin- 
cial Congress, in New York City, on June 8, 1776. (He was 
chosen upon a committee in Congress on January 8th, and a letter, 
dated the 15th of the same month, from him, Francis Lewis and 
Alsop, respecting powder, was received in. Congress on the 
17th; and the Diary of Richard Smith would indicate that he 
was present again in Congress on February 20th : but, thence 
until June 8th, we have been unable to learn his whereabouts.) 
On Wednesday, the 26th (of June), however, he notifies the 
Provincial Congress that his attendance is demanded in Phila- 
delphia and that, unless there is some objection, he desires to set 
out for that city on the Sunday following (June 30th). He was 
discharged from attendance after Saturday. The first indication 
upon the Journal of his presence in Congress after this is the 
choice of him upon a committee on July 6th. We know, 
however, that he had arrived by the 3d ; for, on that day, 
Witherspoon writes from Philadelphia: "[NE] This afternoon 
Mr : Philip Livingston of New York told me that one of our 
Delegates at Burlington desired him to tell me . . ." 

(In the office of the Comptroller of the State of New York is 
a paper, referring to a charge of Jay for attending Congress from 
September 13, 1775, to January 6, 1776, inclusive, on which 
appears : " with six Days spent in going & returning " j and see 
R, R. Livingston^ post^ and p. 205.) 

He was, without doubt, therefore, in Congress on July 4th, 
and on the 15th also, for he was chosen upon a committee on that 
day; and it seems certain (See his letter of August i6th, Jlsop^ 
post) that he was there on August 2d as well. 

Indeed, there is in the possession of John D. Crimmins of 



NOTES TO TEXT 

New York City the following (of which, however, " ii. June " 
seems strange) : 

1776 The Hon''!^ Convention of the State 

Of New York to Philip Livingston Debf 

For his Allowance for Expenses^ 
attending Congress from 11. June I Dollars 
to the 20. Deer is 193 Days at [ 772 

4 Dol? p^ Day J 

Kingston the 11. March, 1777. Rec^ the above 
Sum in Ace? this Day . . . 
Phil. Liv-'^gston 

« 

Floyd signs letters dated Philadelphia, June 8, 17 and 27, 
July 2 and August 10, 1776. Moreover, see p. 140. 

Indeed, he rendered the following statement to the Conven- 
tion, and received pay for the attendance therein enumerated : 

[N] Convention of the State of New York Dr to William 
Floyd for Expences in attending the Continental Congress 
from 23 of April 1776 t i • i ^^69 Days at 4 Dollars J ^ x- 
to the 8 October 1776 "^ "sive | ^^^ ^^^ | 7 

He was, without doubt, therefore, in Congress on July 4th and 
15th and on August 2d. 

t 

Francis Lewis (See Philip Livingston^ supra^ and Jlsop^ post) 
writes from New York City, to Sherman, May 2, 1776 t " As our 
election for Delegates is to be on the 14th instant, I shall defer 
my return to Philadelphia till that is over." He attended, as we 
have seen, upon the Provincial Congress on the 19th. Ten days 
later, Jay writes, from the same city t " [Z] Messrs. Alsop and 
Lewis set out next Saturday [June ist] for Philadelphia . . ." 
Lewis was chosen upon a committee in Congress on June 5th ; 

5^9 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

and he signs letters dated Philadelphia, June 8th, 17th and 27th, 
July 2d and August 6th. Moreover, see p. 140. 

He was, without doubt, therefore, in Congress on July 4th and 
15th and on August 2d. 

s 

Clinton was chosen upon a committee in Congress, April 18, 
1776. 

On the 4th of the next month, however, he writes from Fish- 
kill ; and, on the 5th, he writes, to Washington, from New 
Windsor: " [S] On my arrival here I sent immediately . . ." 

Following this, — though we know that, on May 29th, Jay 
writes, to R. R. Livingston, then at Philadelphia : " [Z] Is Mr. 
Clinton returned ? " and that Clinton did not sign the letter of 
June 17th (See p. 184) — the first definite knowledge we have 
of his whereabouts is the choice of him upon a committee in 
Congress, June 24th. It seems probable, therefore, that he did 
not return to Congress until some days after the postponement. 
He signs letters dated Philadelphia, June 25th, 26th and 27th and 
July 2d. Moreover, see p. 140. 

Ten days later (July 12th), however, Washington (then at 
New York City) writes to him, at New Windsor ; and, on the 
15th and on August 2d, he himself writes from Fort Montgomery, 
to Washington. 

Lewis Morris was in Philadelphia on May 14, 1776; for he 
signs a letter there on that day. 

On June 7th, however, he was made Brigadier-General of the 
Militia of Westchester County j and, on the same day, a letter 
was drafted in the Provincial Congress which says : " The 
Convention [Provincial Congress], therefore, earnestly request 
the favour of the [Continental] Congress speedily to dismiss Mr. 
Morris, they being very desirous of forming their regiments of 
Militia without delay." 

520 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Morris, accordingly, left Philadelphia (though we do not know 
when) ; and, on July 9th, we find him in the Convention, at 
White Plains. 

Sometime "P. M." of the same day — after the adoption of 
the resolution respecting independence (See p. 186) — , however, 
as shown by the proceedings of that body, " General Morris's 
daughter being extremely ill, he requested and obtained leave 
of absence." 

At 4 " P. M. " on July 22d, we find him again upon the 
roll (of the Convention) ; and he was in attendance there upon 
August 2d also. 

On August 1 2th, Washington writes to Hancock: "General 
Morris too is to take part with the brigade on the Sound and Hud- 
son's River for ten days " ; and Morris himself writes to Abraham 
Yates from New Rochelle, August i8th, recommending " [N] 
the Dismissing the Militia for the present . . ." 

On the 26th, as shown by the proceedings of the Convention, 
" General Morris suggested sundry reasons to the Convention for 
his attendance at Philadelphia. Ordered, That General Morris 
attend at Congress at Philadelphia, and return with all possible 
despatch." 

He writes from Philadelphia, September 8th, to Jay : " [Z] 
T am very anxious about our situation at N. York. . I should 
have gone off this day but Mr. Lewis has taken flight toward 
that Place in quest of his family, that were on Long Island, and 
there remain only three of us." This was followed, on the 
24th, by a letter, to the Committee of Safety (?), which says : 
"[NM] I had the honor to receive your Letter accompanying the 
Resolve of Congress relative to my return to resume the command 
of my Brigade . . . Since my arrival at Philadelphia the State 
of N York has had no more than a representation in Congress, 
and as the Gentlemen of the Committee for Indian Affairs were 
mostly out of Town, the whole of that necessary business has 

521 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

devolved upon me — My family have been obliged to desert their 
home, and meeting with them in this place, altogether unprovided, 
I have been under the necessity of delaying the time of my Stay 
untill I could fix them in some Situation where they could be 
accommodated . . . The Situation of my Brigade I was con- 
vinced was well known to the Convention — I apprehended that 
not more than a Coll' Command was left in it, and as such did 
not think my presence was so absolutely necessary . . . However 
in obedience to the commands of Convention, I shall prepare 
with all possible expedition to set out for West Chester . . ." 

R. R. Livingston writes, to Jay, from Claremount, March 20, 
1776. Sixteen days previous, Jay writes to him: " [Z] Fame 
says you are still much indisposed." 

We believe that he arrived in Philadelphia, May i6th ; for, 
on the 17th, he writes thence to Jay : " [Z] I was so unfortunate 
as to miss the last post, by which means I v/as prevented from 
letting you hear what I had done about getting you lodgings at 
Bristol, & the important business [evidently the resolution of 
May 15th: see p. 105] that had been transacted before I 
arrived." (He had secured three bedrooms and a parlor in a 
retired country house about two miles from Bristol " [Z] for your 
Saturday's retreat on the Banks" of the Delaware.) 

Four days later, he writes again to Jay : " [Z] I ... am just 
now setting out for Bristol to meet Mrs. Livingston . . . Pray 
send some of our colleagues along, otherwise I must be more 
confined than either my health or inclination will allow." (Also, 
see note 117, chapter HL) Jay answers. May 29th: " [Z] 
I pray God that your health may enable you to attend constantly, 
at least till it may be in my power to reheve you." 

Jay, however, as we know, — though Francis Lewis and Alsop 
came — was kept in New York and Duane departed to visit his 

522 



NOTES TO TEXT 

family ; and we find Livingston chosen upon a committee, June 
yth, taking part in the debate on the initial resolution offered by 
R. H. Lee, June 8th or loth or on both days, chosen upon the 
committee to draft the Declaration, June nth, and signing a 
letter dated Philadelphia, June 17th. 

Then Clinton camej and, on June 27th, his name appears 
upon the letter to the Provincial Congress (See note 15, chapter 
VIII), w^hile Livingston's does not. Whether Livingston had 
at this time left Philadelphia or not, however, we do not know. 

A paper in the office of the Comptroller of the State reads : 

The New York Provincial Congress D^ 
To Rob* R Livingston for his services at Congress including 
4 weeks in which he v/as employed as one of a Committee of 
Congress to Ticonderoga. 

Days 
From the 13^!^ [?] of May 1776 to the 8'? of July 56. 

Going & returning -------- 10 

From the 12'!" of Sepf to the II'^ of Dec"" - - - - 90 

Going (return from Albany being one day is included 

in the above) - - - - 5 

On July 17th, Livingston appears in the Convention, at White 
Plains ; and, on the 22d, he was in Poughkeepsie. The 5th of 
August finds him again in the Convention. 

Jf 

Duane writes, to Jay, from Philadelphia, May 16, 1776 (Also, 
see his letter of March 20th, p. 97): "[Z] I hope you will 
relieve me soon as I am impatient to visit my Friends; I look 
upon Business here to be in such a train that I can well be 
spared", and, on the 25th: "[Z] It is more than 9 months 
since I have seen my children & I have spent but about ten 
days in that time with Mrs. Duane." 

Four days later (the 29th), Jay advises R. R. Livingston — 
then at Philadelphia — that Alsop and Francis Lewis will leave for 

523 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Philadelphia on the ist and that " [Z] Mr. Duane informs me that 
he is about to return home, and considering how long he has been 
absent from his family, I think him entitled to that indulgence." 

Duane, accordingly, left Philadelphia before the introduction 
of the initial resolution by R. H. Lee. (See pp. 136 and 159.) 
Indeed, he was chosen upon a committee in the Provincial Con- 
gress, in New York City, June 3d. 

In the late afternoon, two days later, " Mr. Duane had leave 
of absence to visit his family and provide a house for their 
reception." 

We know nothing further of his whereabouts until September 
28th, when he is found in attendance upon the Convention, at 
White Plains. 

(Hooper writes from Philadelphia to R. R. Livingston, Aug- 
ust 17th: " [BT] Where is Duane? I wish to hear that he is 
busied in calling forth the strength of his neighborhood to oppose 
the miscreants of Britain. Upon no other terms can I excuse 
his absence. I miss his nocturnal whifF. I am sick of regu- 
larity ; in bed before ten o'clock, judge what company I keep. 
Pray return to us and urge him to his duty here as soon as you 
can be spared from your present employment.") 

t 

Alsop doubtless (See Francis Lewis^ supra) left New York 
City, on his way to Philadelphia, June i, 1776. Also, see note 
14, chapter VIII. (He was chosen upon a committee in Con- 
gress on January 8th ; see Philip Livingston^ supra ; he was again 
chosen upon a committee on March 4th, this time in the place 
of Lewis, who, the Journal states, was absent; he signs a letter 
dated Philadelphia, March 19th; and see p. 181.) (Lewis 
writes from Baltimore, March 12th.) 

He was, without doubt, therefore, present in Congress on both 
July 4th and 15th and very possibly — certainly, we think, in 
Philadelphia — on August 2d also. 

524 



NOTES TO TEXT 

It, however, is very certain that he at least did not sign any 
Declaration on the 15th (of July) or on any other day; for, on 
the 1 6th, he writes to the Convention : " Yesterday our President 
read in Congress a resolve [See p. 186] of your honorable body 
... I was much surprised to find it come through that channel. 
The usual method hitherto practiced has been, for the Convention 
of each Colony to give their Delegates instructions to act and 
vote upon all and any important questions. And in the last letter 
[See p. 184] v/e were favoured with from your body, you told us 
that you were not competent or authorized to give us instructions 
on that grand question; nor have you been pleased to answer our 
letter of the 2d instant [See p. 185], any otherwise than by your 
said resolve, transmitted to the President ... as you have, I 
presume, by that Declaration, closed the door of reconciliation, 
I must beg leave to resign my seat as a Delegate . . ." 

In response to this letter, the Convention, on July 22d, " Re- 
solved, unanimously, That the Convention cheerfully accept of 
Mr. Alsop's resignation . . ." At the same time, they enclosed 
to their Delegates in Congress a copy of his letter to them and 
two copies of the resolution. One copy of the resolution was 
to be delivered to Alscp ; the other, with the copy of his letter, 
was to be laid before Congress, " since they will best be able to 
investigate the meaning of the writer, and determine how far his 
knowledge of the publick transactions may or may not be safely 
trusted in his custody." 

Philip Livingston, replying for himself and the other Dele- 
gates, August 1 6th, says: "Your favour, dated the 22d July, 
enclosing copy of Mr. Alsop's letter to the Convention, and a 
resolve of your body accepting his resignation of his seat in 
Congress, v/as received, and agreeable to your directions com- 
municated the same to the Congress, and delivered a copy to 
Mr. Alsop, who had not attended for some days before, though 
we did not then know the reason of his absenting himself." 

52s 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Suggestive light is thrown upon Alsop's action by a letter 
from Bartlett to Langdon, dated Philadelphia, August 5th: 
" [BT] Since the declaration of Independence, your friend John 
Alsop has wrote to the Convention of New York to resign his 
seat in Congress and made some reflections on the Convention 
for their agreeing so unanimously to that Declaration, the 
Convention in return voted cheerfully and unanimously to ac- 
cept of his resignation with some severe and cutting reflections 
on him for his conduct which were all sent to Congress. I 
believe his boarding with our friend Wharton has been no ad- 
vantage to him. Possibly he was obliged to resign his seat as 
a previous condition to his taking full possession of the Lady." 

*^ It would seem that, if it were true that such signing took 
place on the 15th, John Adams and Bartlett would have ex- 
pressed themselves differently than they did in letters to John 
Adams' wife and Langdon, respectively, dated this very day. 
John Adams says : " [Qy] Independence is at last unanimously 
agreed to in the New York Convention " ; and Bartlett says : 
"[BT] The Colony of New York has fully acceded to the Dec- 
laration of Independency so that it now has the sanction of the 
thirteen United States . . ." Also, see Alsop's letter of July 
1 6th, Jlsop^ note 39, supra. 

41 Seep. 186. 

42 He evidently means Franklin, Wilson and Morton. Cer- 
tainly, there are in existence a letter of Wilson to the Committee 
of Safety and a letter of Franklin and Wilson to Jasper Yates 
dated Philadelphia, July 4th. 

^^ See p. 192. 

4* Assuming that Jefferson means that Franklin, Wilson and 
Morton were the " minority " who signed (as he says) on the 
4th, he has left out of consideration here Andrew Allen and 
Edward Biddle, both of whom also had been elected Delegates 
by the Assembly. 

526 



NOTES TO TEXT 

These gentlemen were in attendance, it would seem, as late as 
June 14th ; for (See, however, note 30, chapter VIII) then the 
Assembly paid them, as well as the other Delegates, for their 
attendance (upon Congress). When they left Congress, however, 
we do not know. 

» 

Of Allen, we have already seen (See p. 91) what John Adams 

says. 

In Proceedings on Unveiling the Monument to C^sar Rodney 
and the Oration Delivered on the Occasion by Thomas F. Bayard^ at 
Dover^ Delaware., October JOth., l88g^ appears the following — 
stated to be taken from an original manuscript of Thomas 
Rodney, younger brother of Caesar Rodney : ''In the year 
1776, when independence began to be agitated in Congress, 
General Rodney . . . came home to consult his friends and 
constituents on that important question. He communicated 
the matter to his brother, Colonel Rodney, and observed that 
he had a great deal at stake, and that almost all of his old 
friends in Congress were against it, particularly Andrew Allen, 
John Dick [in] son, Robert Morris and his colleague, George 
Read . . ." 

Rush writes, from Philadelphia to R. H. Lee, December 20, 
1776: "[A] M' Galloway — & three of the Allen family have 
received Absolution at Trenton." 

The Virginia Gazette (C) of January 10, 1 777, is even more 
specific : " Amongst the worthies who have joined, or put them- 
selves under the protection of, Howe and company, at Trenton, 
we find the names of the following noted personages, viz : Joseph 
Galloway, Esq; late a member of the Congress . . . Andrew 
Allen, Esq ; late a member of Congress." 

Indeed, in the Diary of Thomas Rodney, for December 22, 
1776, we read: "About 2 o'clock to-day we reached Bristol 
. . . Col. Morris the quartermaster immediately sent us out to 

527 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

William Coxe's and Andrew Aliens on the banks of the Ne- 
shaminy creek where we appointed our quarters, about 2 miles 
from Bristol. The Lieutenant and half the company were placed 
at Mr. Coxes and the other half at Mrs. Aliens, who ... re- 
quested that I would stay at her house to prevent her being 
insulted, as her husband and brothers had fled to the enemy, and 
she therefore had been insulted some days before." 

Also, see a very interesting letter from Hewes to Johnston, of 
May II, 1775, in 7'he Colonial Records of North Carolina^ etc., 
by William A. Saunders. 

8 

Biddle doubtless retired to Reading. Certainly on November 
19, 1776, he writes thence to William Atlee at Lancaster. 

The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser (C) of 
September 9, 1779, says : " On Thursday last, after a very linger- 
ing illness, died at Baltimore, in the 41st year of his age, that 
great Lawyer, the Hon. Edward Biddle, Esq ; of Reading, in 
this State . . . the County of Berks unanimously elected him 
... a Delegate in Congress : And the conduct of the patriot 
did honor to the choice." 

*^ See note 11, supra. 

*^ See, to the same effect, fay^ note 39, supra, 

*^ See note 12, supra. 

*s It will be noted that Jefferson does not say when they 
signed. From his previous language, it might be implied^ how- 
ever, that he intends to be understood as meaning that they 
signed on the 20th^ the day of their election. Indeed, if 
they signed a Declaration on paper., it would seem probable that 
they signed on that day ; for it was then that their credentials 
were produced and read in Congress. Certain it is that Robert' 
Morris does not mention any signing: see p. 227. 

*^ Jefferson himself, it will be noted, seems to confuse the 
signing of the Declaration on parchment and of his Declaration 

528 



NOTES TO TEXT 

« on paper ". He does not state whether Thornton signed both 
or only the one on parchment. 

^^ For this reason, see p. 210. 

^1 ^Jefferson be correct in his statement that the Declaration 
was signed first — on July 4th— <?« paper (and if he means that 
the same gentlemen signed that Declaration who signed the 
Declaration on parchment and that there were no other post- 
signers to that — the paper — Declaration), this statement is 
incorrect. 

Chase and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who left Philadelphia 
soon after the postponement, cannot have signed any Declaration 
— on paper— on July 4th; for we find them recorded as voting 
in the Convention at Annapolis on the first six days of July. 

Indeed, the election of Delegates in Maryland did not take 
place until July 4th, nor was Carroll (He signed the Declaration 
on parchment now in the Department of State) a Delegate up 
to that time (Also, see note 15, chapter XHI) ; while Chase 
writes to John Adams from Annapolis on the 8th : " [Qy] M' 
Paca can show You the Declaration of our Convention, different 
from the one in December ... I hope the Congress will not 
be offended with our advancing before we received their Orders 
... I have some Hopes of seeing You in about ten Days — 
M"" Carroll leaves his Home next Sunday " ; and, on the 12th, 
Stone writes from Philadelphia to the Council of Safety: "Our 
Province is now unrepresented ... I pray one of the Delegates 
may be desired to attend. Mr. Paca is out, which occasions 
me alone to address you." 

It was the 17th before they arrived, as shown by a letter from 
Chase to Gates, dated Philadelphia, July i8th: "[NY] I was 
obliged to return to Maryland on Account of M'.' Chase's Ill- 
ness, —every Moment of my Stay there was engrossed by my 
Attendance on my Lady and our Convention. On yesterday 
34 529 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

I came to Congress with Mf Carroll ... I am compelled to 
return to Maryland on S^!* of August." 

The new credentials were laid before Congress on the next 
day. Tilghman, Johnson, Paca, Stone and Alexander (as well 
as Chase) had been reelected. Paca and Stone, as we have seen, 
had remained in Philadelphia and were still present. 

Tilghman, Johnson and Alexander, however, did not proceed 
to Philadelphia. The reason for the absence of the last would 
seem to have been the same that caused his absence from the Con- 
vention, which, as given by himself, in a letter to that body, writ- 
ten at Newington, June 25th, was : " Had my health permitted, 
I should have been at Annapolis the first of the meeting; but 
the wound in my ankle has hitherto [See note 32, chapter V] and 
still continues to disable me. Since last Sunday week I have 
not been out of my house, and it is with difficulty and great pain 
I can even walk from one room to another ... I assure you, 
that duty to my constituents and inclination [See p. 68 ; also 
note no, chapter XI] both prompt me to join in the councils 
of my country, and more especially at this very interesting 
period." The two others may^ of course, have been loath to 
attend (See note 113, chapter III; Jay^ note '^g^ supra ; and 
note no, chapter XI), or may have remained in Maryland 
because they had other duties to perform (See p. 272) or be- 
cause — and this is the most probable — "a majority of them, 
or any three or more of them," were sufficient to represent the 
Colony. Certainly, Johnson was in Congress on September 
20th, for he (together with Paca, Chase and Stone) signs a letter 
dated Philadelphia on that day; and we know that Chase — 
writing of the advantages of Annapolis over Baltimore for the 
accommodation of Congress — says, in a letter dated Annapolis, 
December i8th: " [NM] I imagine M!: Tilghman, M^ Carroll 
. . . are with you." 

530 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Hooper also cannot have signed any Declaration — on paper — 
on July 4th; for Hewes writes from Philadelphia, to Samuel 
Johnston, July 8th: "What has become of my friend Hooper? 
[See p. 83.] I expected to have seen him here ere now . . . 
My friend Penn came time enough [See p. 139] to give his 
vote for Independence. I send you the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence enclosed ... I had the weight of North-Carolina on 
my shoulders within a day or two of three months. The ser- 
vice was too severe. I have set some days from six in the 
morning until five and sometimes six in the afternoon, without 
eating or drinking. My health was bad ; such close attention 
made it worse. I nevertheless obstinately persisted in doing my 
duty to the best of my judgment and abilities, and attended Con- 
gress the whole time, one day only excepted . . ." 

He arrived on July 23d ; for Hewes writes, to Johnston, on 
the 24th : " [PD] N B. M' Hooper came to Town last evening. 
I have not yet seen him — " He, Hewes and Penn sign a letter 
to their Council of Safety on the 29th. 

Nor was R. H. Lee (See p. 212) nor Wythe (See p. 214) 
nor Wolcott (See p. 211) nor Williams (See p. 56 and note 99, 
post) in Congress on July 4th. 

^2 This word is probably in the letter; but the letter is so 
bound with others that one cannot be sure. 

^3 This is now in the rotunda of the Capitol in Washington. 

Unfortunately, we have not been able to find the opinion of 
any one who was present. Jefferson says simply — in a letter (Also, 
see p. 203) to Madison, dated Monticello, October 24, 1823: 
" [S] I have received Trumbull's print of the Decln of In- 
dependance . . ." 

^^ No draft which has the signatures of the members.^ other than 
the one on parchment, can now be found ; nor has History left 
any trace of its existence at any time^ so far as we know, except 

S3I 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

this statement of JefFerson and his statement (See Appendix^ 
p. 297) on the slip pasted onto his notes. 

^^ It will be seen, however, that nowhere in his letters to Wells 
does he mention a Declaration " on paper ". 

^^ See The Writings of Thomas 'Jefferson by Paul Leicester 
Ford ; Bancroft's ; History of Philadelphia by Sharf and Westcott ; 
"The Authentication", etc., (See note 18, supra') \ Life of the 
Hon. Thomas McKean by Buchanan; Niks'* Weekly Register (C and 
N) of August 5, 1826; "The Birth of the American Republic," 
etc., in Potter s^ etc., (C) for July, 1875 ; " Signing of the Decla- 
ration of Independence" by Benson J. Lossing in ibid. (C) for 
October, 1875 ; " The Story of the Signing " in Scribner's Monthly 
for July, 1876 ; "The Declaration of Independence" by M. M. 
Baldwin in the Magazine of American History (N) for December, 
1888; The Declaration of Independence^ etc., by Peter Force; The 
Life of Thomas fefferson by Randall ; and The Declaration of Inde- 
pendence by Friedenwald. 

^' See p. 170. 

^^ See p. 170. 

^^ Of course, part of the entry of July 19th relates to 
August 2d : see next paragraph. 

^^ See Life of the Hon. Thomas McKeanhy Buchanan, facing p. 45. 

^1 These entries are in reddish brown ink, and evidently in 
the same ink. The color of the other entries on the page (in- 
cluding, of course, "July 19, 1776") is dark brown; and they 
seem to be in the same ink. The line — "Resolved That . . . 
fairly en " — is interlined between "July 19, 1776" and an 
entry (not given in the text) under that date. The entry imme- 
diately below this entry under July 19th (not given in the text, 
as stated) is under date of November 27th. It seems certain, 
therefore, that the entries given in the text v/ere inserted in the 
secret domestic Journal after July 19th, and at the same time, but 
when, we do not know. 

532 



NOTES TO TEXT 

62 The letters "N P" (as well as the two marks " + " " + ") 
are in darker ink (even than the rest of the page) and were, with- 
out doubt, added, seemingly by some other hand than Thom- 
son's, long after the Declaration on parchment was signed. 
Indeed, the " N P " and the " -1- " before " ® grossed " are 
evidently in a different hand than the " + " below "Resolved" 
and would seem to have been added even later than this " + ". 

^•5 See facing p. 204. See also Appendix^ pp. 296 and 297. 

^ See, however, note 12, chapter IV. 

65 It seems certain that the word " present " (after the word 
" member ") was not in the notes as written out in form ; and 
we believe that — doubtless suggested by the facts (disclosed by 
MiKean's letter to Messrs. Wm. M'Corkle & Son) that the new 
Delegates from Pennsylvania and Thornton were not present on 
July 4th — it was inserted at the time of writing (May 12, 18 19) 
his first letter to Wells : see Appendix^ note 20. 

66 See Appendix^ note 19. 
6^" See Appendix^ p. 297. 

68 For another portion of this letter, see p. 242. 

69 Chase's letter — dated " [Qy] Annapolis. July. 5'^ 1776. 
Fryday Afternoon." — says: "Your Letter of the if [See p. 
160] conveys both pleasure and Grief. I hope ere this Time 
the decisive blow is struck. Oppression, Inhumanity and Per- 
fidy have compelled Us to it. blessed be Men who effect the 
Work, I envy You ! how shall I transmit to posterity that I 
gave my assent ? cursed be the Man that ever endeavors to unite 
Us ... I have sent You our Paper and some Resolves of our 
Convention — do they not do Us Honor ... I cannot con- 
clude without requesting my most respectful Compliments to 
y[\ [Samuel] Adams Coll Hancock e* e* and all independent 
Americans." 

^^ Also, see p. 119. 

% 
533 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Also, see note 15, chapter XIII. 

71 This, it will be noted, was over five years before JefFerson 
enclosed (first) to John Adams the letter which he had just writ- 
ten to Wells. (See note 29, supra.) Indeed, see p. 119. 

■^2 Also, see Appendix^ note 20. 

73 See note 15, supra. 

7* It was returned in a letter dated February 12th. Mrs. 
Warren says therein that she has had a copy made. 

75 We are unable to find any record of his having done so. 

76 The table now in " Independence Hall ", it is claimed, is 
the very table upon which this signing took place ; and the ink- 
stand there preserved, and the President's chair, also are stated 
to be the originals. 

77 See facing p. 208 and facing p. 218. For the wording, 
punctuation, etc., see Appendix^ p. 306 et seq. (or facing p. 208). 

78 This resolution, it will be noted, was not passed until some 
days after the reading in Congress (See note 25, chapter VIII) 
of the resolution of the Convention of New York. See p. 220. 

79 " [PHM] Cloudy cool morning wind westerly . . ." 
"[MsJ] 6 - - - - A. M. 77. 

8 - - - - P. M. 80" 
^^ This entry, in the corrected Journal, is as follows : 

The declaration of independence being ingrossed and compared at the 
table was signed by the members. 

It has already been shown (See p. 204) how it appears in the 
secret domestic Journal. 

81 Jefferson, as we have seen (See p. 203), says that it was com- 
pared " with the original one signed on paper . . ." (This would 
mean, evidently^ with the draft, in his handwriting .^ submitted to 
Congress on June 28th — whether or not this "one signed on 
paper" was ever in fact signed or not.) If this is true, it would 
not be at all improbable that Jefferson's draft "on paper" was 

534 



NOTES TO TEXT 

lost or destroyed at this time, after the comparison. If lost or 
destroyed at the time of printing the first broadside (See note 
38, chapter VII), however, the comparison (on August 2d) must, 
it would seem, have been made with one of these broadsides 
(unless the " Rough draught " — See between pp. 144 and 145 — 
was used) ; but, of course, if the draft " on paper " was signed 
on July 4th as Jefferson claims, this " paper " draft would, no 
doubt, have been cared for properly. 

^^ See The Life of Benjamin Franklin. 

^^ If, however, Gwinnett left before the 2d (See p. 215), he 
doubtless signed first. Also, see note loj^ post. 

^^ Bancroft says that Samuel Adams signed next ; M. M. 
Baldwin, in "The Declaration of Independence" (See the Maga- 
zine of American History^ N, for December, 1888), and Lora S. 
La Mance, in " The Men who signed " (See Lippincotfs^ C, for 
July, 1 901), say that Bartlett signed next. Bancroft gives no 
ground for his statement and the others evidently reason from a 
false premise. 

^^ See p. 135. 

^^ Sanderson seems to be substantiated by the facts. Hopkins' 
signature to z: draft dated East Greenwich, September 15, 1770, 
in the possession of John D. Crimmins of New York City and 
his signature to a /<?^^^r dated Philadelphia, August 17, 1776, in 
the collection of Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet now in the New 
York Public Library (Lenox) are of similar character. Indeed, 
a letter from Hopkins himself and Ellery (written probably by 
Ellery), to Governor Cooke, dated June 8, 1776, says: " [G] 
The correspondence between the Colony and its delegates, which 
by the death of Mr. Ward, and the great inconvenience which 
attends Mr. Hopkins in writing, hath for some time past been 
interrupted, we wish might be resumed." 

^7 See The Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton^ etc. 

®^ A letter so signed dated August ii, 1772, to Walter Du- 

535 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

lany and a receipt so signed dated May i8, 1774, are in the 
collection of Theodore Bailey Myers now in the New York 
Public Library (Lenox). A letter so addressed dated August 
3, 1775, from his father is in The State Historical Society of 
Wisconsin, in Madison. Besides, the Journal, in giving the cre- 
dentials of the Delegates of Maryland, presented to Congress on 
July 18^ 1776, gives his name as "of Carrollton ". 

^^ Langdon does not seem to have appeared in Congress after a 
leave of absence in December, 1775. On July 17, 1776, Bartlett 
writes to him : " If you are absolutely determined to resign, and 
should do it . . . you must see that another is appointed in 
your stead, to come here in about a month, to supply Colonel 
Whipple's place, who is determined then to return [See note 115, 
post'] " ; and, eight days later, he (Langdon) was appointed Agent 
of Prizes for New Hampshire. 

See note 49, chapter V. 

Whipple writes to Bartlett, November i6th : " [Tr] Our Col- 
league is as well as can be expected, the operation of small pox 
has kept him two days from Congress I hope he will be able 
to attend in a few days." 

^^ He adds that Read is in attendance with him. 

^1 See Appendix^ p. 300. Also, see p. 194 (and notes 18, 20, 
21 and 22, supra) and Appendix^ pp. 302 and 305. 

^^ See note 21, supra. 

^^ Sanderson says : " [B] Mr. Gerry ... as slender and 
spare as Mr. Harrison was vigorous and portly, stood beside him 
at the table, while signing the Declaration. He turned round to 
him with a smile, as he raised his hand from the paper, and said, 
' When the hanging scene comes to be exhibited, I shall have all 
the advantage over you. It will be over with me in a minute, 
but you will be kicking in the air for an hour after I am 
gone.' " 

536 



NOTES TO TEXT 

This story, however, can be true only if we admit that, as 
Jefferson asserts, the Declaration was signed first — on paper 
— on July 4th and then only as to that signing ; for, as shown 
in the text, Gerry was absent on August 2d, and Harrison had 
returned to Virginia (See note 20, chapter VI) — not having been 
reelected — before Gerry came back. 

^* Also, see his letter of June 12th, note 46, chapter IV. 

^^ Charles J. Hoadly writes (See Proceedings of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society^ ser. 2, vol. 3, p. 374): "Each colony paid 
its own delegation. Oliver Wolcott in his account charges for 
attending Congress from Jan. 4 to July 4, 1776, inclusive, 182 
days; and from Sept. 24, 1776, to May 12, 1777, inclusive, 231 
days. These dates are, respectively, those on which he set out 
from and returned home." 

^^ Taken from Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society^ 
ser. 2, vol. 3, p. 374. 

Q7 He writes from Philadelphia, November 29th, to Timothy 
Edwards : " [N] I should probably have attended with you at 
the Indian Conference in July had my health permitted — " 
Also, see note 99, post. 

% - 

On March 22d, he writes from Philadelphia to Andrew 
Adams : " [Tr] I hope We may in Time be able with Toler- 
able Success to Combat G Britain upon that Eliment which she 
boasts herself the Mistress of — but still Vv7"e shall be oblidged to 
remember that Rome was not built in a day, tho she finally be- 
came Mistress of the World — the World We shall not Covet 
but so much of America as may be needful! for us, I hope 
We shall injoy without any earthly controul — you mention the 
efHcacy of common sense, the leading Sentiment which it dic- 
tates I am sensible Very greatly prevails — some People will still 
please themselves with the delusive Phanntom of Commissioners 
coming over, with the Proffers of Peace — but I believe it is 

537 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Very certain they have nothing in their Hands but Pardons for 
Rebells . . . The british Court mean only to have America 
under their feet, and I fancy will hardly attempt even to dis- 
guise their Intention — When that is once known the little hesi- 
tancy which still remains, I imagine will Vanish — The Colonies 
will enter no Seperate Negotiation, and the Congress will not 
yield any essential Claim — The important Crisis which must 
stamp the Character of America must be Near — and I do not 
perceive that it's approach produces but Very few sad faces — " 

On August 14th, he writes from Litchfield to Andrew Adams : 
'' [Cs] The ridiculous King of G B. and his ridiculous Ministers 
must (if capable of it) have most exquisite Sensations by this 
Time — But it matters not as [?] to us what they either feel or 
think, let them continue the Curses to that Nation who are will- 
ing to bear them — " 

^^ He writes from Philadelphia, to his wife, June nth: 
"[MsS] Every Thing is tending to the lasting Independency of 
these Colonies . . . This year will probably be productive of 
great and most interesting Consequences ... By the Blessing 
of God I enjoy Health, which demands my gratitude. The 
Service is hard, and affords but little Time for Exercise ; but I 
hope before next month is out, to be upon my return to my 
Family . . ." (A letter from him to his wife dated May 4th 
also says : " [Mn] I am well . . ." ) 

^^ See note 95, supra. See, however, note 56, chapter XL 

Certainly, he arrived on or before the 9th j for the minutes of 
the Governor and Council for that day say : " Colonel Wolcott 
was present this day," and, for the nth: "Colonel Oliver 
Wolcott having lately returned home from the Continental 
Congress, by reason of ill health ; and it being the opinion of 
this Board, that it is of importance that the Colony should have 
a full representation in Congress . . . and by a letter from 
Colonel Wolcott, expressing also his desire that another member 

538 



NOTES TO TEXT 

should attend, &c. ; this Board, having at turns discoursed on the 
subject, at several days and times, do conclude, that William 
Williams, Esq., do, as soon as may be, repair to and attend said 
Congress, as one of the Delegates appointed by the General 
Assembly — Mr. Hosmer and he having discoursed, and partly 
agreed, on which should attend, &c." 

t 

Williams v^ras still in attendance upon the Council on the 19th. 
On the 26th, however, Trumbull vi^rites to him, from Lebanon : 
"This letter may be communicated, as you see fit, with my 
compliments, to the other Delegates, &c." Also, see p. 216. 

^^^ Bancroft is mistaken : he says he had returned from Rich- 
mond by August 2d. 

^^1 See Lewis Morris^ note 39, supra, 

1^2 See note 52, chapter IV. 

R. H. Lee, the grandson, in Memoir^ etc., however, says : 
"On the evening of the tenth, Mr. Lee received, by express 
from Virginia, the distressing intelligence that his lady was 
dangerously ill. This circumstance compelled him to ask leave 
of absence for a short time. He left Philadelphia on the eleventh 
instant . . ." 

103 \Yg have already seen (See p. 72) a letter of April 5th 
from General Charles Lee and one of April 12th from Page to 
R. H. Lee. 

On April 13th, Thomas Ludwell Lee wrote to R. H. Lee: 
" [M^] General Lee thinks, as I do, that the American cause 
would be greatly served by your attendance in Convention, 
which meets on the 2d May. You will find there a noble spirit, 
worthy to be cherished, and which if not regulated and directed 
by a skilful hand, may dissipate in idle fume, or be blasted by 
the arts of sly timidity." 

Again, on May i8th, he wrote: " [M^] Col. Mason came to 
town [Williamsburg] yesterday after the arrival of the Post 5 

539 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

I showed him your letter, and he thinks with me that your 
presence here is of the last consequence. He designs to tell 
you so by letter to-day. All your friends agree in this opinion. 
Col. Nelson is on his way to Congress, which removes the 
objection respecting a quorum of Delegates ... let us have 
the satisfaction to see you assisting in the great work of this 
Convention — " 

Indeed, his own letter of June 13th (See note 52, chapter IV) 
says : ". . . inclose the same to me at Williamsburg . . ." 

His grandson, in Memoir^ etc., however, says, that he was 
called to Virginia by the sickness of his wife: see note 102, 
supra. Also, see note 50, chapter IV, and note 50, chapter VII. 

104 Wythe writes to Robert Carter, June 17th: " [Tr] Col. 
Lee is so obliging as to take with him the stocking-loom needles, 
with some wire, which I brought for you from Philadelphia to 
Hooe's ferry, where I now am . . . Mrs Wythe is in good 
health. Our best respects to mrs Carter and all the family at 
Normony." 

10^ Lee had, previous to this, left Williamsburg; for, on this 
day, Andrew Lewis writes thence to him. 

10^ On this day, Andrew Lewis writes from " [M^] Camp at 
Horn Point" to R. H. Lee: "Last Sunday [the 28th] I ex- 
pected to have the pleasure of seeing you at Col. Richard Lee's, 
where I dined." 

107 Jefferson writes, from Philadelphia, to Page, July 20th : 
" Having declined serving here the next year, I shall be with 
you at the first session of our assembly. I purpose to leave this 
place the 11*^ of August, having so advised Mrs. Jefferson by 
last post, and every letter brings me such an account of the state 
of her health, that It Is with great pain that I can stay here till 
then, but Braxton purposing to leave us the day after tomorrow 
[H!e evidently changed his mind ; for John Adams' debates show 
that he was present on July 26th], the colony would be unrepre^ 

540 



NOTES TO TEXT 

sented were I to go, before the 1 1*^. I hope to see Col. Lee 
and Mr. Wythe here, tho' the stay of the latter will I hope be 
short, as he must not be spared from the important department 
of the law." (Taken from The New England Historical &' 
Genealogical Register^ XX, 69. It is there published as a com- 
munication from James Parker of Springfield, Mass.) 
^^^ See note 12, chapter IV. 

109 See note 3, chapter VIL 

110 See Biographical Sketches of the Delegates from Georgia to the 
Continental Congress. 

m Walton took his seat on December 12th; and, on the 
same day, as shown by the Journal, it was " Resolved That this 
congress be for the present adjourned to the town of Baltimore 
in the state of Maryland to meet on the 20* instant unless a 
sufficient number to make a Congress shall be there sooner 
assembled[.] '* The entry (in the Journal) for the 20th shows 
only that " The delegates from Georgia produced the credentials 
of their appointment which were read as follows . . ." 

112 See p. 211 (and note 95, supra) and p. 257. 

11^ See Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society^ ser. 2, 
vol. 3, p. 374. 

$ 

The receipt spoken of in the text (according to a certified 
copy) uses the words " for defraying my Expense now going to 
& Attending the Continental Congress ". 

11^ See, however, Jefferson's notes^ p. 218. (John Adams 
writes to his wife, August 25th : " [Ad] Mr. Paine is recovered 
of his illness . . . ") 

11^ Bartlett writes to Langdon, August i ith : " Colonel Whip- 
ple sets off to-morrow morning for Portsmouth . . . Aug. 13. 
Colonel Whipple left us for New Hampshire yesterday at two 
o'clock." John Adams writes to his wife, August 1 2th : " Mr. 
[Samuel] A[dams]. sets off to-day, if the rain should not prevent 

541 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

him, with Colonel Whipple . . , a sensible and worthy man . . . 
I repeat my request that you would ask some of the members of 
the General Court if they can send me horses ; and if they can- 
not, that you would send them. I can live no longer without a 
servant and a horse." " Mr. A. and Colonel Whipple are at 
length gone . . . They went about three o'clock this afternoon." 

116 \Yg jiayg already seen John Adams' letter of June I2th 
(See note 46, chapter IV). Two days before (July 25th) the 
letter in the text was written, he wrote to the Deputy Secretary 
of Massachusetts : " [J] I find myself under a necessity of 
applying to the honorable General Court for leave to return 
home ... I beg leave to propose ... an alteration in their 
plan of delegation in Congress . . . For myself, I must entreat 
the General Court to give me leave to resign . . . The con- 
sideration of my own health and the circumstances of my family 
and private affairs would have little weight with me, if the sacri- 
fice of these was necessary for the public ; but it is not. Be- 
cause those parts of the business of Congress for which, if for 
any, I have my qualifications, being now nearly completed . . . 
there are multitudes of gentlemen in the province much fitter for 
the public service here than I am." Then came his letter of 
August 1 2th to his wife (See note 115, supra). Two days later, 
he wrote — again to his wife — to the same effect. His Diary 
for October 13th says: "[J] Set out from Philadelphia toward 
Boston." 

117 Indeed, Penn writes to the Committee of Safety, Septem- 
ber 1 6th: " [NC] I wrote to you by Thomas Hay ward, Esq., 
one of the Delegates of So : Carolina . . ." 

lis He (Heyward) writes, to Dr. John Morgan, from Phila- 
delphia, September 4.th : " [PD] I purpose to set out for 
S? Carolina in the Morning." 

119 See note 106, supra. 

120 See notes 62 and 71, chapter II; note 3, chapter VII; 

542 



NOTES TO TEXT 

and the portion of the text (and notes) relating to the absence on 
August 2d of R. H. Lee and Wythe, p. 212. 

121 This is not interlined in the copy of the notes sent to 
Madison in 1783. 

122 This evidently does not include the President. 

123 Xhe copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as 
follows: "July 30. 31. Aug. i. present 41. members, nir 
Chase . . ." 

124 He writes from Philadelphia on the 23d : " [NE] We should 
likewise be glad of a Copy of that part of your Minutes which 
ascertains what Number of Delegates shall represent the Province 
in Congress. I am told you have made one Delegate sufficient 
for this Purpose : but as I have no good Authority for this 
Opinion and was the other Day the only Member [See p. 161 
and note 10, chapter X] from Jersey attending in Congress, I 
was in great Doubt as to the Propriety of giving my Vote." 

125 See note 38 supra. 



CHAPTER X 



1 Of course, see chapter XL See also note 97, chapter IX. 

2 This undoubtedly refers to the main debate, in the commit- 
tee of the whole, on July ist, on the resolution declaring inde- 
pendence and not to the debate upon the form of the Declaration 
itself as the language would imply. 

^ The original of this letter is in the collection of Ferdinand 
I J. Dreer now in The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in 
Philadelphia. 

For a letter of the 9th to Chase, see p. 242. Of course, 
see also p. 223. 
* For a letter of Ellery of this date, see note 26, chapter XL 

543 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^ He writes again, to his brother(?), August 3d: "[PD] 
Since I finished my other Letter have been up at Congress . . . 
I believe I shall never be able to get that scoundrel to make 
Betsey's & Sally's Shooses ... I have (without the least Ex- 
pectation of being gratified) a Strong desire to be at Home once 
more ", and, certainly to his brother, August 28th : " I have at 
last got from the shoemaker and sent down by the post Betsy's 
and Sally's shoes. I don't know which pair is Betsy's or which 
is Sally's; this they must find out themselves, if they ever come 
safe to hand. However, I know they are very dear, to wit : 
14 s. 6 d. a pair." 

A letter dated July 1 7th, also to Thomas Rodney, says : 
" [Hs] Almost all the tradesmen of every kind have left the 
City. I have not now a barber to shave me. In consequence 
of a bad cold caught on the last week by some means or other 
unknown to me, and getting very wet on Sunday in returning 
from Congress, I have been ever since then confined to my 
room, but am now so much better as to be able to attend this 
morning." 

^ Wells (See The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams\ 
by mistake, gives this as New Jersey. 

' They had, however, received a copy from their Delegates: 
see p. 185. 

^ Paul Leicester Ford (See The Writings of Thomas Jefferson.^ 
vol. 2, p. 42, note i) says that Jefferson, sometime between 
July 4th and loth, sent to Page a copy of the Declaration (in his 
■ — Jefferson's — handwriting) as submitted to Congress. 

If so, this evidently refers to this copy. 

It must be remembered, however, that an abstract of the 
Declaration as adopted by Congress appeared in The Virginia 
Gazette of the 19th ; and that, on the day this letter was written 
to Jefferson, Page wrote to Hancock also (See p. 273), acknowl- 

544 



NOTES TO TEXT 

edging the receipt of a printed Declaration sent on the 8th, and 
that he doubtless knew from R. H. Lee (See p. 212) that Jeffer- 
son had been chosen chairman of the committee to draft the 
Declaration and from Fleming (See note 3, chapter VII), if from 
no other source, that Jefferson drew the Declaration. 

Moreover, Page makes no comment on the changes made by 
Congress, which would have been, it would seem, only natural, 
if he had before him a copy of the Declaration as submitted to 
Congress as well as a printed copy. At least, R. H. Lee and 
Pendleton, to each of whom, we know, Jefferson sent a manu- 
script copy, so commented : see Appendix^ pp. 344 and 350, 
respectively. 

It may very well be, therefore, that ^^ your Declaration " refers 
simply to the Declaration, a printed copy of which he had just 
received from Hancock. 

On the other hand, the copy of the Declaration as submitted to 
Congress which Jefferson sent to R. H. Lee was sent on July 8th 
(See Appendix^ p. 344) — the same day that Hancock's letter to 
Page was sent. If, therefore, Jefferson sent to Page a similar 
copy on the same day on which he sent the one to R. H. Lee, it 
would have been received, in all probability, with Hancock's let- 
ter; and the 20th — the date of this letter to Jefferson — would 
have been the natural date for an acknowledgment. 

^ See p. 72. 

1^ He writes from " Elizabeth Town ", July 14th : " [N] soon 
after my going [See note 13, chapter V] to Congress at Phil^ we 
had news [See note 3, chapter VII] of Genl Howes Arrival at 
Sandy-hook, and a few days after of his Landing on Staten Island 
. . . I continued at Phih till Thursday last [the nth] when I 
returned homeward . . . Our Declaration of Independance I 
dare say you have seen — " 

The letter of August 6th given in the text would seem to indi- 
cate, however, that he had returned by August 2d; and, indeed, 
^^ 545 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

the Journal shows that he was chosen upon a committee on 
July 29th and John Adams' debates show that he was present on 
the 30th. 

^^ Jefferson, in his letter to Gardner of February 9, 1813, 
says : " [P] for many excellent persons opposed it [a declaration 
of independence] on doubts whether we were provided sufficiently 
with the means of supporting it, whether the minds of our con- 
stituents were yet prepared to receive it &c. who, after it was 
decided, united zealously in the measures it called for." 

^ See pp, 96 and 103. 

^2 Both Reed, the biographer, and Force give the date as of 
the 20th. The 20th was Saturday. 

1* For his letter of April 6th, see p. 98. 

1^ Taken from The Pennsylvania Gazette (N) of September 
25th. It is headed : " Boston, Sept. 12." 

^^ Taken from The Pennsylvania Gazette (N) of August 7th. 
It purports to be a communication from New York, dated the 
5th. See also The New-York Gazette^ etc., (C) of August 5th; 
The New-York Journal^ etc., (C) of the 8th; The New-England 
Chronicle (MsS) of the 15th; and The Freeman's Journal^ ctc.y 
(Con) of the 17th. 

^'^ The fact of its announcement in the newspapers in London 
appears in The Connecticut Gazette^ etc., (N) of December 27th. 

See "London Newspapers of 1776 and the Declaration of 
Independence " by " D.D. " in The Nation (C and N) of 
February 17, 1898. 

^^ See notes 42 and 43, chapter VII. 

^^ Taken from The Daily Advertiser (C) of London of 
November ist. 

2^ He had been ill with the gout. 

21 Taken from The Continental Gazette^ etc., (Bos) of February 
27, 1777. 

546 



•■m 



NOTES TO TEXT 

22 The Virginia Gazette (C) of February 28, 1777, publishes, 
as a communication from London, dated November 23, 1776, 
the following : " Sunday morning last the wife of a journeyman 
bricklayer, it [in] Petticoat lane was delivered of three children 
who were baptised by the names of HANCOCK, ADAMS, 
and WASHINGTON. Hancock died the day of his birth, 
but Adams and Washington are in perfect health." 

23 Silas Deane writes from Paris, August i8th : "The dec- 
laration ... is announced in the English papers [See p. 232], 
but I have received no despatches on the event, though I am in 
daily expectation of them." 

Not until November 20th does he write, to the Count de 
Vergennes, as follows : " [NE] In pursuance of the Orders of 
the honorable Congress, to me expressed by Letters, bearing 
date, the 8^^ of July last and of the 7^^ of August following, I 
have the honor to deliver your Excellency, the enclosed Declara- 
tion of independence of the United States of North America, 
and to inform you that by the first of said Letters, the Congress 
appears to have been unanimous in this important resolution 
. . . They also say '. . . The ' Declaration of Independence 
meets with universal Approbation, and the people seem every- 
where animated still more by it in defence of their Country.' 
I will not detain your Excellency longer, than just to observe, 
that by the first Letter, dated July 8^^ which must have been 
intercepted, it appears that the Congress took measures, imme- 
diately after declaring their independancy, to have the same an- 
nounced in Europe, and first of all to the Court of France . . ." 

Eight days later, he writes to the Secret Committee (?) : 
" Your favor of the 7 of August last covering Copy of yours 
of ye 8 July I rec'd tho the Original never came to hand — 
This Letter also enclosed the Declaration of Independency with 
Instructions to make it known to this, & the other powers of 
Europe, and I received it the 17. Instant, tho the Vessel 

547 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

which bro't it, had but 38 days passage from Salem. This 
letter was very farr from relieving me, as it inclosed what 
had been Circulated thro' Europe for two months before, and 
my pretending to inform this Court, could be only a matter 
of form ... As the Copy was dated 8 July I took Occation 
to observe that the honorable Congress, had taken the earliest 
Opportunity of informing this Court . . . and as their inde- 
pendency was now in form declared, the Queries I had formerly 
put, in Consequence of my first Instructions, might now be 
resolved, and I hoped favorably — To this I was answered, 
unless France, by a public Acknowledgement of your inde- 
pendency, makes war on G. Britain in your favor what ser- 
vice can such Acknowledgement be of to the United States ? 
You are known here. Our Ports are open, & free for your 
Commerce, and your Ships are protected in them, and greater 
indulgencies allowed than to any other Nation. If France 
should be obliged to make War on England it will be much 
more just, and honorable, in the Eyes of the World to make it 
on some other Account, & if made at all, it is the same thing 
to the United States of America, & in one important View 
better for them to have it Originate from any other Cause, as 
America, will be under the less immediate Obligation — further 
France has Alliances, and cannot resolve a Question which 
must perhaps involve her in a War, without previously Con- 
sulting them, meantime the United States can receive the same 
succours, & Assistance from France, without as well as with, 
such an open Acknowledgement perhaps much more advan- 
tagiously." (Taken from The Pennsylvania Magazine of History 
and Biography^ XI, 199. The original is in the collection of 
Ferdinand J. Dreer now in The Historical Society of Pennsyl- 
vania, in Philadelphia.) 

On December 3d, he says, to Jay : " I presented the Declara- 
tion of Independence to this Court, after indeed it had 

548 



NOTES TO TEXT 

become an old story in every part of Europe ; It was well re- 
ceived . . ." 

24 See note 23, supra. 

25 Franklin writes to Philip Mazzei : " [X] I am myself much 
pleased that you have sent a translation of our Declaration of 
Independence to the Grand Duke . . ." This translation may 
have been made from the copy sent to Mazzei by Jefferson 
(See Appendix^ p. 345). 



CHAPTER XI 



1 See notes 38 and 39, chapter VII. 

2 A number also of printed copies, as shown by letters quoted, 
were sent by individual Delegates to their friends. Moreover, 
on August 22d, the Marine Committee write to Commodore 
Hopkins : " We deliver you herewith . . . several of the printed 
Declarations of Independence. They may do well to notify the 
inhabitants of the French Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon of 
this Declaration, and sound how the inhabitants stand affected 
towards us . . ." 

^ A copy of the order given in the text, in the handwriting of 
Hancock^ is in the collection of Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet now 
in the New York Public Library (Lenox). A facsimile is to 
be found in The Story of the Revolution by Henry Cabot Lodge, 
vol. I, p. 171. It is evidently the copy sent to New Jersey 
with this copy of the Declaration ; for the page upon which it is 
written is headed: " [N] In Congress July 5*?" 1776 — " and 
it is preceded on the page by a copy of a resolution directing that 
the British prisoners in New Jersey be sent to York, Pa., and 
that the Convention or Committee of Safety of New Jersey 
carry the resolution into effect. 

* See note 21, chapter VIII. 

549 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^ Clymer was chairman and Joseph Parker, Samuel Howell, 
Owen and James Biddell, Samuel Morris, Jr., Thomas Wharton, 
Jr., George Gray, Samuel Miles and Daniel Roberdeau also were 
present. 

^ On this day, the Declaration appeared for the first time in a 
newspaper — in The Pennsylvania Evening Post (C and N). (John 
Adams, on the 7th, wrote his wife : " [Qy] 1 have this Moment 
folded up a Magazine, and an Evening Post and sent it off, by an 
Express, who could not wait for me to write a single Line.") It 
appeared in Dunlap's^ etc., (C) of the 8th \ in German in Henrich 
Millers Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote (PH and Rid) of the 9th ; in 
The Pennsylvania Ga'z.ette (N) and in The Pennsylvania Journal^ 
etc., (C) of the lOth ; and in The Pennsylvania Ledger : Or the 
Virginia^ Maryland^ Pennsylvania^ and New-yersey Weekly Adver- 
tiser (C and Rid) of the 13th. 

(See note 41, chapter VII.) 

^ In The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography^ 
XVI, 308, is 2. facsiinile of the bill rendered — by Michael 
Kuhn — for carrying these letters. A note says that the original 
,is in the possession of Edward C. Biddle. The items are as 
follows : " To Go as an Express to Chester County 4 days ", 
;^3 ; to Lancaster County, four days, £-2^ ; " to Potts Grove &c ", 
three and a half days, £1^ I2s, 6d; and to Bucks County, four 
days, £'^. The following is endorsed upon the bill : " Pay the 
above account being for services done by order of the Committee 
of Safety as pr the above account — Owen Biddle lO- July 1776 
To John Nixon Esq. & others the Committee of Ace-." 

^ The Committee of Safety, according to Hancock's letter, 
given in the text, it would appear, received from him but 
one copy — printed by Dunlap under the order of Congress. 
The copies sent by them to the various Counties, therefore, it 
also would appear, must have been either hand-copies or other 
printed copies. 

550 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Dr. L Minis Hays thinks (See Proceedings of the American 
Philosophical Society^ vol. 39) that they were copies printed by 
Dun lap especially for the purpose under an order of the Committee 
of Safety, He bases his belief mainly upon the facts that 
there is in the Society a broadside of the Declaration (For fac- 
simile^ see ibid.) on vellum w^hich, though printed by Dunlap, 
differs from — in that it is larger than, etc. — the one printed by 
him under the order of Congress and that this vi^as found among 
the papers of a member (David Rittenhouse) of that Committee. 
(It was presented to the Society, September 19, 1828, by 
Mease.) (It is headed: "In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. 
I A DECLARATION | By the REPRESENTATIVES of 
the I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, | In GENERAL 
CONGRESS assembled." and has at the bottom, after the 
printed attestations of Hancock and Thomson : " Printed by 
JOHN DUNLAP.") 

We, however, have failed to find any record of such an order 
by the Committee of Safety, and question, therefore, whether the 
Declaration was not printed by Dunlap for the second time (^when^ 
we do not know, though doubtless soon after the printing under 
the order of Congress) simply to meet the public demand — probably 
for the 8th ; though we admit that the copies of the Declaration- 
sent by the Committee of Safety to the various Counties may have 
been of that issue and though very likely the imprint on vellum 
now in the Society was made especially for the members^ or some 
of them, of that Committee. 

It may very well be, however, that Hancock in fact sent more 
than one copy (See note 43, post^znA p. 271); or that the copies 
sent to the various Counties were some of those printed by Dunlap 
under the order of Congress and secured from Dunlap or, by 
personal application, from the Secretary of Congress; or that 
Miller printed a broadside and that they were some of these (See 
note 41, chapter VII). It even is perhaps possible^ though not 

551 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

probable, that copies of The Pennsylvania Evening Post of the 6th, 
which contained the Declaration, were sent. 
9 See p. 191. 

10 Clymer, Howell, Owen and James Biddle, John Nixon, 
John Cadwalader, Parker and Wharton were present. 

^1 Dunlap^s^ etc., (C and Rid) of this date contains the fol- 
lowing announcement : " THIS DAY at Twelve o'clock, the 
DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE, will be PRO- 
CLAIMED at the STATE-HOUSE." See also The New- 
Tor k Gazette^ etc., (NY and Rid) of July 15th. 

12 On this day, Hewes writes a letter in which he says : " A 
hellish plot has been lately discovered at New- York to murder 
General Washington and some other officers of the first rank, 
blow up the magazine, and spike up the cannon ... A paper 
has been privately laid on the Congress table, importing that 
some dark designs were framing for our destruction, and advis- 
ing us to take care of ourselves. Some were for examining the 
cellars under the room where we sit. I was against it, and urged 
that we ought to treat such information with contempt, and not 
show any mark of fear or jealousy. I told some of them I had 
almost as soon be blown up, as to discover to the world that I 
thought myself in danger. No notice has been taken of this 
piece of information, which I think is right." 

^^ Taken from The Pennsylvania 'Journal^ etc., (C) of July 
1 0th. The Pennsylvania Evening Post (C and N), of the 9th, 
says: "Yesterday, at twelve o'clock, INDEPENDENCY was 
declared at the State-House in this city, in the presence of many 
thousand spectators, who testified their approbations of it by 
repeated acclamations of joy." See also The Pennsylvania 
Gazette (N) of the lOth ; The Connecticut Courant ; and 
Hartford Weekly Intelligencer (C) of the 15th; Dunlafs Mary- 
land Gazette; or the Baltimore General Advertiser (Ba) of the 
1 6th ; The New-York Journal^ etc., (C) and The New-Eng- 

552 



NOTES TO TEXT 

land Chronicle (C, MsS and PH) of the i8th; The Virginia 
Gazette (C) of the 19th ; and The American Gazette^ etc., 
(Ex) of the 23d. 

1* The following members met at the Committee Chamber on 
this morning : Clymer (chairman), Parker, Nixon, Owen and 
James Biddle, Michael Hillegas, Gray, David Rittenhouse, 
Wharton, Cadwalader, Samuel Morris, James Mease and 
Howell. 

^^ This was probably one of the prints made by Dunlap under 
the order of Congress ; and it is possible that it is now in the 
possession of Mrs. Ellen W. (Charles C.) Harrison of Philadel- 
phia, for she has (evidently) such a print in her possession and 
writes us (in 1900) (See, however, note 39, chapter VH) : " My 
Broadside was in a trunk with other valuable papers of my 
Grandfather, John Nixon, & it has never been out of the pos- 
session of the family. At present, it is being photographed . . . 
to hang in the Museum of Independence Hall." (The photo- 
graphic copy here suggested is now in " Independence Hall ".) 
(It is true that the name of Dunlap does not appear upon the 
photographic copy ; but this does not prove that the original from 
which this photographic copy was taken has not his imprint, for 
C. C. Harrison writes us, under date of November i, 1900, that 
the broadside is framed, so that no one can tell, " without break- 
ing the frame ", whether or not there is any printing below the 
printed signatures, etc.) 

s 

A fragment of another broadside, having the heading of this 
Dunlap print but torn after the words "to encourage" (and the 
balance of it missing), is in The Historical Society of Pennsyl- 
vania. On it, in pencil, is endorsed : " [PH] Found among the 
papers of John Nixon of Phila. & supposed to be the original 
from which he read the Declaration in public." Of it, however, 
Charles Henry Hart of Philadelphia writes us, under date of 

553 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

October 22, 1900: ". . . the endorsement ... is in handwriting 
of the late f'rank M. Etting who died insane one of the most in- 
exact and inaccurate of collectors & when I asked him the au- 
thority for it he had none whatever. The one owned by Mrs. 
C. C. Harrison is the veritable Nixon copy." 

1^ Watson says: "[V] The Declaration . . . was read . . . 
by Captain John Hopkins . . ." 

Lossing maintains, however, that "[H] testimony appears to 
predominate in favor of the claims of John Nixon [one of the 
Committee of Safety] to that honor." 

Willis P. Hazard, in his revision of Watson's Annals^ etc., 
quite fully discusses the question. Also, see note 20, post. 

We think that there is no room for contention ; for Marshall, 
in his Diary^ says : " Warm sunshine morning. At eleven, went 
and met Committee of Inspection at Philosophical Hall ; went 
from there in a body to the, lodge j joined the Committee of 
Safety (as called) ; went in a body to State House Yard, where, 
in the presence of a great concourse of people, the Declaration 
of Independence was read by John Nixon. The company de- 
clared their approbation by three repeated huzzas. The King's 
Arms were taken down in the Court Room, State House same 
time. From there, some of us went to B. Armitage's tavern; 
stayed till one. I went and dined at, Paul Fooks's; lay down 
there after dinner till five. Then he and the French Engineer 
went with me on the commons, where the same was proclaimed at 
each of the five Battalions . . . Fine starlight, pleasant evening. 
There were bonfires, ringing bells, with other great demonstra- 
tions of joy upon the unanimity and agreement of the declaration." 
(Y or facsimile of this page of Marshall's Diary^ see Narrative 
and Critical History of America by Justin Winsor, vol. 6, p. 273.) 

Indeed, Marshall is corroborated by an extract found in Hen- 
rich Millers Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote (PH) of the 9th : " Gestern 
mittag um zwolf uhr wurde die Erklarung von Unabhangigkeit, 

554 



NOTES TO TEXT 

welche vorn in dieser Zeltung stehet, in dem hieslgen Staat- 

haus Hofe, auf einem erhabenen geruste in Englischer sprache 

offentlich verkundigt und dadurch die Vereinigten Colonien von 

Nord-Americavonaller dem Konige von Grossbrittannien hiebevor 

geleisteten pflicht und treuergebenheit von nun an und kunftig 

ganzlich frey, ledig und losgesprochen. Die Verkundigung 

geschahe durch den Herrn Obersten Nixon, mit dem Herrn 

ScherifF William Dewees zu seiner seite ; in beyseyn vieler 

Glieder des Congresses, der Assembly, der Generals und anderer 

hohen Kriegsbeamten; unten im hofe waren viellelcht einige 

tausend menschen, die dieser feyerlichen begebenheit beywoh- 

neten. Nach verlesung der Erkiarung, wurde ein dreymal- 

iges freudengeschrey gemacht, mit den vi^orten : GOtt segne 

die Freyen Staaten von Nord-America ! Hiezu kan und v^'ird 

wol ein jeder echter freund dieser Colonien Ja und Amen 

sagen." 

* 

" [Sh] Mrs. Deborah Logan, v^^ho lived in the Norris mansion 
[on the " east side of Fifth Street "] at the time, says she dis- 
tinctly heard the reading from the garden of that house." Also, 
see note 20, post. 

It may very well be, however, that Hopkins read the Declara- 
tion to some one^ or perhaps to all^ " of the five Battalions " of 
which Marshall speaks. 

17 " [Sh] In the ' Autobiography of Charles Biddle ' he says, 
'On the memorable Fourth of July, 1776, I was in the old 
State- House yard when the Declaration of Independence was 
read. There were very itw respectable people present. General 
* * * spoke against it, and many of the citizens who were good 
Whigs were much opposed to it; however, they were soon 
reconciled to it.' Mr. Biddle confounds July 4th, the day of the 
Declaration, with July 8th, the actual day of the reading. His 

555 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

statement that ' very {qw respectable people ' were present, is pre- 
sumed to refer to people of wealth, family, and position. In 
this particular Mr. Biddle agrees with Mrs. Deborah Logan, 
who also heard the reading. ' The first audience of the Declara- 
tion was neither very numerous or composed of the most respect- 
able class of citizens.' The name of ' General * * * ^' who spoke 
against the Declaration, is stated to be ' entirely obliterated and 
illegible in the manuscript.' In all probability Gen. John Dick- 
inson is meant." 

Of course, Biddle is not to be understood to mean that " Gen- 
eral . . . spoke against " the Declaration in the yard. 

See p. 221. 

See note i6, supra. 

1^ See note 69, chapter IX. 

^^ As late as the 8th — the date of the publication in Philadel- 
phia — , Chase writes as given in note 51, chapter IX. 

^^ Lossing says that this was " [H] the platform of an ob- 
servatory, erected near the Walnut Street front of the State 
House, by Rittenhouse, many years before, for the purpose of 
observing a transit of Venus." 

Watson also describes it as " [V] the platform of 'the ob- 
servatory ' before erected there, by Rittenhouse, to observe the 
transit of Venus " ; though he says, as we have seen, that Hopkins 
and not Nixon read the Declaration there. He tells us that the 
platform "[V] was about twenty feet high, but twelve to fifteen 
feet square, at fifty to sixty feet south of the house, and fifteen 
to twenty feet west of the main walk." 

Hazard, in his revision of Watson's Annals^ etc., quite fully 
discusses the subject. Among other things, he says : " Ritten- 
house observed the transit at Norriton, not at the State House. 
The observatory was erected by the American Philosophical 
Society for a special committee of observation here. Ritten- 
house may have directed or superintended its construction. The 

556 



NOTES TO TEXT 

best authorities state it was read from the balcony or platform of 
the observatory, the popular rostrum of the day, by John Nixon, 
and in a loud clear voice, heard on the other side of Fifth street. 
The observatory stood about forty feet due west from the rear 
door of the present Philosophical Hall, and about the same dis- 
tance south from the present eastern wing. It was of circular 
shape, as appears from the foundations recently discovered when 
perfecting the sewerage of the Square." 

^^ See note i6, supra. 

22 Evidently of Christ Church, which was considered luke- 
warm. See note 58, chapter V. 

2^ For part of this portion of the letter, see p. 205. 

2^ Taken from The Pennsylvania 'Journal.^ etc., (C) of July loth. 

25 Also, see note 16, supra. 

26 Ellery writes to his brother, July loth (See The Pennsyl- 
vania Magazine of History and Biography., X, 320, which says 
that the original letter is in the possession of Miss Ellery of 
Newport) : " We have lived to see a Period which a few years 
ago no human forecast could have imagined. We have Hved 
to see these Colonies shake of[f], or rather declare themselves 
independent of a State which they once gloried to call their 
Parent ... I send you inclosed the News-Paper of this Day, 
in which you will take notice that the Declaration of Independency 
was proclaimed at the State-House ; but it is not published that 
the late King's Arms were taken from thence and the Court 
House that Morning and were burned that evening near the 
CoiFee House." (He evidently "inclosed" The Pennsylvania 
Gazette i certainly The Pennsylvania journal., etc., of the loth 
contained the news in question — see note 24, supra.) 

27 Lossing says : " [H] The second story of the State House 
was occupied by the courts; and while the Continental Congress 
was in session below, the Provincial Assemblies met above." 
Also, see p. 112. 

SS7 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

2^ This must have been, It would seem, previous to the receipt 
of the letter from the Committee of Safety : see note 7, supra. 

29 Taken from The Pennsylvania Evening Post (C and N) of 
July nth. See also The Maryland Journal^ etc., (Ba) of the 
17th; and The New-England Chronicle (MsS) of the 25th. 

^^ Henrich Millers Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote (PH) of the 1 6th 
says : " Zu Easton, in Northampton County, wurde die Erkla- 
rung von Unabhangigkeit am 8ten dieses auf folgende weise 
verkundiget : Der Oberste und alle Stabs-Officiers des ersten bat- 
tallions begaben sich nach dem Courthause, die leichte Infanterie- 
companie marchirte dahin mit klingendem spiel und fligender 
fahne, die inschrift derselbigen ist die Dreyzehn Vereinigten 
Colonien. Nachdem die Erklarung einer grossen menge von 
menschen vorgelesen vv^ar, gaben selbige ihre herzliche zustim- 
mung mit einem dreyfachen freudengeschrey, und riefen aus, 
GOtt erhalte lange, und Vereinige die Freyen und Unabhangigen 
Staaten von America." 

21 Also, see p. 254. 

^2 Taken from The Virginia Gazette (C) of July 26th. See 
also Dunlafs^ etc., (N) of July 1 5th ; The Maryland Gazette 
(Ann) of the 25th; and The Scots Magazine (C) for August. 

'^^ Taken from The Pennsylvania Evening Post (A and N) of 
July 13th. See also Dunlap's^ etc., (N) of July 15th; The 
New-York yournal^ etc., (C) of the 1 8th; The Connecticut 
Courant^ etc., (C) of the 2 2d ; The Connecticut Gazette^ etc., 
(N) of the 26th ; The Boston-Gazette^ etc., (C) of the 29th ; 
and 2'he Scots Magazine (C) for August. 

2* See Harper'' s New Monthly Magazine for July, 1892. 

^ See p. 251. 

2^ Taken from The Story of an Old Farm^ etc., by Andrew D. 
Mellick, Jr. He gives also a description by Lieutenant Eben- 
ezer Elmer of the reception of the Declaration at " brigade head- 
quarters " on the 15th, on which occasion Parson Caldwell gave 

558 



NOTES TO TEXT 

the toast. Colonel Dayton himself writes, from Fort Stanwix 
(as shown by what is endorsed " [N] Coppy Sent Ab'" Clark July 
20^^") : " Friday 13^^ Instant I marched from the German Flats 
for this place where I arived safe the 16'^ ... I left at the 
Flats . . . your good frind the Parson & Cap! Bloomfield with 
his company . . . Major Barber is worth his weight in gold to 
this Continent — Officers & men here seem pleased with the 
declaration of Independency for my part I must confess I should 
have rejoiced at a reconsilation with our old friends & brothers 
upon honourable terms for many reasons — " 

^'^ See p. 193. 

^ The editions of Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of 
Independence which we have examined do not contain all of the 
extract here given. It is taken from The Delaware Register 
(PH) for February, 1838. 

39 We have been unable to find any other mention of such a letter. 

We know, however, that Hancock^ on the 5th, enclosed to 
Haslet a copy of the Declaration, which, he said, "you will 
please to have read at the head of your battalion." 

**^ There is among the Washington papers (formerly in the 
Department of State) now in the Library of Congress a broad- 
side printed by Dunlap under the order of Congress. 

*i See note 12, supra. 

^2 P'or what took place in the Convention — at White Plains — 
on this day, see p. 185. 

*3 Hancock, as the text shows (Also, see note 40, supra)^ 
sent to Washington " the enclosed Declaration ". Where these 
"several of the Declarations" came from, therefore and in view 
of (See note 50, post) the dates of the printing of the Declaration 
by The New-Tor k "Journal^ etc., and by The New-York Gazette^ 
etc., we do not know. (Indeed, Washington, on the 9th, sent 
a copy to the General Court of Massachusetts and another to 
General Ward.) Of course, however, Washington himself 

559 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

may have had them printed or otherwise prepared ; or Hugh 
Gaine may have printed his broadside (See note 68, post) in time; 
or see note 24, chapter VIII, but see note 50, post; or Hancock 
may in fact (See note 8, supra^ and p. 271), which would seem to 
be the most plausible explanation^ have sent more than one copy. 

*^ See note 48, post. 

^^ See note 53, post, 

^ A bronze tablet, near the west corner of the south front of 
the City Hall, seems approximately to mark the spot. 

'^'^ Taken from the copy (formerly in the Department of 
State and now in the Library of Congress) made by Richard 
Varick. 

*^ The Virginia Gazette (C) of July 26th says : ". . . the 
DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE was read at the head 
of each brigade of the continental army posted at and near New 
York, and every where received with loud huzzas and the utmost 
demonstrations of joy." See also The New-Tork 'Journal^ etc., 
(C) of July nth; The Pennsylvania Evening Post (A and N) 
of the 13th; The Connecticut Courant^ etc., (C) of the 15th; 
The Pennsylvania Ga'zette (N) of the 17th; The New-England 
Chronicle (MsS) of the i8th; The Connecticut Gazette^ etc., 
(N) of the 19th; The Pennsylvania Ledger^ etc., (C) of the 
20th ; The American Gazette^ etc., (Ex) of the 23d ; The Mary- 
land Gazette (Ann) of the 25th ; and The Scots Magazine (C) for 
August. 

^^ Also, see note 48, supra^ and p. 206. 

^^ The Declaration appears, on a separate page^ in The New- 
Tork Journal^ etc., (C) of this date. For its heading, see note 
24, chapter VIII. At the bottom is : " NEW-YORK : Printed 
by JOHN HOLT, in Water-Street." On another page of the 
paper appears the following : " J^^ The Declaration of the United 
States of America^ is inserted in this paper ^ in the present form to 
oblige a number of our Customers^ who Intend to separate it from the 

560 



NOTES TO TEXT 

rest of the paper and fix it up^ in open view^ in their Houses^ as a 
mark of their approbation of the INDEPENDENT SPIRIT of 
their Representatives T 

(The " July (f^ " endorsed on the copy, printed by Holt, in 
the New York State Library does not prove, we think, that it 
was printed by July gth or that it is not one of these — especially 
in view of the " N"* 29 ". See note 24, chapter VIII.) 

The Declaration appears also in The New-Tor k Gazette ^ etc., 
(NY and Rid) of July 15th. 

(Also, see note 68, post^ 

^^ General Howe heard on the 8th of the action of Congress, 
and that by a newspaper — doubtless The Pennsylvania Evening 
Post (C and N) —of the 6th. 

^2 Taken from The Virginia Gazette (C) of July 26th. See 
also The Pennsylvania Evening Post (A and N) of July 13th ; Dun- 
lap's^ etc., (N) and The New-Tor k Gazette^ etc., "(NY and 
Rid) of the 15th; The Pennsylvania Gazette (N) of the 17th; 
The New-England Chronicle (C and MsS) of the i8th; The 
Essex 'Journal^ etc., (C) of the 19th ; The Boston-Gazette^ etc., 
(C) of the 22d ; The American Gazette^ etc., (Ex) of the 23d j 
and The Maryland Gazette (Ann) of the 25th. 

53 An " Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman in New York, 
to his Friend in this Town, dated July 10, 1776", as given in 
The Maryland fournal^ etc., (Ba) of July 1 7th, says : " Last 
Evening it [the Declaration] was read to the Army here, and 
three Cheers proclaimed the Joy of every Heart in the Camp, 
and this Morning the IMAGE of the BEAST was thrown down, 
and his HEAD severed from his Body . . ." 

5^ John Adams, in his Diary^ says : " [J] Between the fort 

and the city is a beautiful ellipsis of land railed in with solid 

iron, in the centre of which is a statue of his majesty on horse- 

)ack, very large, of solid lead gilded with gold, standing on a 

[pedestal of marble, very high." 

36 561 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Lossing writes : " [H] It was the workman-ship of Wilton, 
then a celebrated statuary of London, and was the first equestrian 
statue of his majesty yet erected. It was placed upon its pedestal, 
in the center of the Bowling Green, on the twenty-first of August, 
1770." " [H] Mr. Greene described the statue to me as of the 
natural size, both horse and man. The horse was poised upon 
his hinder legs. The king had a crown upon his head ; his right 
hand held the bridle-reins, the left rested upon the handle of a 
sword. The artist omitted stirrups." 

^ Washington, as shown by his orders^ ordered on the loth : 
" [S] 'Tho the General doubts not the persons, who pulled 
down and mutilated the Statue, in the Broadway, last night, were 
actuated by Zeal in the public cause ; yet it has so much the 
appearance of riot and want of order, in the Army, that he dis- 
approves the manner and directs that in future these things shall 
be avoided by the Soldiery, and left to be executed by proper 
authority." 

^^ Ebenezer Hazard also, writing from New York to Gates 
on the 1 2th, says : "[NY] Enclosed is the Congress's Declara- 
tion of Independence [See notes 43 and 50, supra] . . . The 
King of England's . . . Statue here has been pulled down to 
make Musket Ball of, so that his troops will probably have 
melted Majesty fired at them." In the same vein writes 
Whipple, from Philadelphia, on the i6th : ". . . the leaden 
King in the Bowling-Green was dismounted, and is by this time 
cast into bullets for the destruction of his tools of tyranny. May 
every one of them be properly commissioned . . ." 

Wolcott (See p. 211) writes: " [MsS] . . . the Statue was 
broken in pieces and the metal transported to Litchfield as a 
place of safety. The Ladies of this Village converted the lead 
into Cartridges for the Army, of which the preceding is an 
Account." The " preceding " is as follows : 

562 



NOTES TO TEXT 

[MsS] Cartridges. 

Mrs. Marvin, 6.058 

Ruth Marvin, 11.592 

Laura, 8.378 

Mary Ann, IO.790 

PVederic, 936 

Mrs. Beach, 1.802 

Made by sundry Persons, 2.182 

Gave Litchfield Militia on Alarm, 50 

Let the Regiment of Col. Wigglesworth have 300 

Cartridges, No. 42.088 

Not all, however, of the statue was " converted . . . into 
Cartridges " ; for the following (copied especially for the author, 
by courtesy, from the files in their office in New York City) 
appears in the Telegram of June 16, 1883: "Mr. Jacob B. 
Moore, the well known historical writer and librarian of the 
New York Historical Society, said to-day to a TELEGRAM 
reporter ...'... The stone slab upon which the statue 
rested was taken to Powles Hook in 1783. It subsequently 
served as a memorial stone for the grave of Major John Smith, 
of the Forty-second Highlanders, and later as a doorstep for the 
residence of Mr. Cornelius Van Vorst, in Jersey City. It is 
now in possession of the New York Historical Society. Several 
large fragments of the statue — comprising the tail of the horse, 
part of the saddle, &c., which were recovered at Wilton, Conn., 
in 1 87 1 — are also in the society's possession. The white 
marble pedestal (fifteen feet in height) was removed from the 
Green in May, 1818.'" 

A similar statement was made to us by Robert H. Kelby, the 
present Librarian of the Society ; and we ourselves have seen in 
the Society what is thus stated to be the " stone slab upon which 
the statue rested ". 

Indeed, the " Journals of Col. James Montresor " (See Collec- 

563 



r 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

t'tons of the New York Historical Society for the year i88i^ p. 123) 
says : " My hearing that the Rebels had cut the King's head 
ofF the Equestrian Statue (in the Centre of the Elipps, near 
the Fort) at New York, which represented George the 3rd in 
the figure of Marcus Aurelius, and that they had cut the nose 
off, dipt the laurels that were wreathed round his head, and 
drove a musket Bullet part of the way through his Head, and 
otherwise disfigured it, and that it was carried to Moore's tavern, 
adjoining Fort Washington, on New York Island, in order to be 
fixed on a Spike on the Truck of that Flagstaff as soon as it 
could be got ready, I immediately sent Corby through the Rebel 
Camp in the beginning of September, 1776, to Cox, who kept 
the Tavern at King's Bridge, to steal it from thence, to bury 
it, which was effected, and was dug up on our arrival, and I 
rewarded the men, and sent the Head by the Lady Gage to 
Lord Townshend, in order to convince them at home of the 
Infamous Disposition of the Ungrateful people of this distressed 
Country." 

57 Taken from The Pennsylvania Gazette (N) of July 17th. 
See also The New-York Gazette^ etc., (NY and Rid) of 
July 15th ; The New-England Chronicle (C and MsS) of the 
1 8th; The Connecticut Gazette^ etc., (N) of the 19th; The 
Pennsylvania Ledger^ etc., (C) of the 20th ; The Boston-Gazette^ 
etc., (C) of the 22d; and The American Gazette^ etc., (Ex) of 
the 23d. 

^^ See note 56, supra. 

^^ See Memoirs of his Own Time, 

^^ Washington forwarded the Declaration (See note $0^ supra; 
see, however, note 43, supra) to Schuyler on the nth. He says 
(See The Writings of George Washington^ etc., by Jared Sparks) : 
"You will perceive by the enclosed Declaration^ that Congress 
of late have been deliberating on matters of the utmost impor- 
tance. Impelled by necessity, and the repetition of injuries no 

564 



.#1 



NOTES TO TEXT 

longer sufFerable, and being without the most distant prospect 
of relief, they have asserted the claims of the colonies to the 
rights of humanity, absolved them from all allegiance to the 
British crown, and declared them Free and Independent States, 
In obedience to their order, the same must be proclaimed through- 
out the northern Army." Schuyler, then at " German-Flatts ", 
transmitted it to Gates. 

^1 Taken from The Pennsylvania Evening Post (C) of August 
15th. See also The New-Tor k Journal^ etc., (C) and The 
New York Packet and the American Advertiser (C) of the same 
date ; and Dunlap's^ etc., (N) of the 20th. 

62 See p. 187. 

^2 This resolution, as seen (See p. 186), was passed on Tues- 
day, the 9th. The New York City Committee took its action 
one week later. It resolved " That at twelve o'clock, on Thurs- 
day, at the City-Hall, in this city, the aforesaid Declaration be 
published ; when and where it is hoped every true friend to the 
rights and liberties of this country will not fail to attend." 

6* Taken from The New-Tork 'Journal^ etc., (C) of July 15th. 
See also The Pennsylvania Evening Post (A and C) of July 23d ; 
The Pennsylvania Ga%ette (C and N) and The Pennsylvania 
Journal^ etc., (C) of the 24th ; The Virginia Gazette (C) of 
the 26th ; Dunlafs^ etc., (C and N) of the 29th ; and The 
Maryland Gazette (Ann) of August ist. 

^ Lossing says that this was at the head of Broad Street. 

66 The Diary of the Moravian Congregation (See The Penn- 
sylvania Magazine of History and Biography^ I, 139) says : " Thurs- 
day 1 8th, was the day appointed when Independence was to be 
declared in the City Hall here ; which was done about noon ; 
and the Coat of Arms of the King was burnt. An unpleasant 
and heavy feeling prevailed." 

^7 Rev. Charles Inglis writes to Rev. Dr. Hind, October 31st 
(See The Documentary History of the State of New-Tork by 

565 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan) : " In the beginning of July, inde- 
pendency was declared ... I thought it was proper to consult 
such of the vestry as were in town, and others of the congrega- 
tion . . . and I must do them the justice to say, that they were 
all unanimous for shutting up the Churches ; and chose rather to 
submit to that temporary inconvenience, than, by omitting the 
prayers for the king, give that mark of disaffection to their 
sovereign. To have prayed for him had been rash to the last 
degree — the inevitable consequence had been a demolition of 
the churches, and the destruction of all who frequented them. 
The whole rebel force was collected here, and the most violent 
partisans from all parts of the continent . . . All the king's 
arms, even those on signs of taverns, were destroyed. The 
committee sent me a message, which I esteemed a favour and 
indulgence, to have the king's arms taken down in the church, 
or else the mob would do it, and might deface and injure the 
churches. I immediately compUed. People were not at liberty 
to speak their sentiments, and even silence was construed as a 
mark of disaffection. Things being thus situated, I shut up the 
churches. Even this was attended with great hazard ; for it was 
declaring, in the strongest manner, our disapprobation of inde- 
pendency, and that under the eye of Washington and his army." 

The arms in Trinity Church, Lossing says, " [H] were . . . 
carried to New Brunswick by Rev. Charles Inglis, D. D., at the 
close of the war, and now [1852] hang on the walls of a Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church in St. John." 

^^ R. A. Roberts of the Public Record Office writes us, 
from London, under date of September 11, 1905: "... this 
enclosure appears to have been wrongly assigned to the Gover- 
nor's despatch of 8 July 1776 with which it is bound up . . . 
The Heading and Imprint of the Declaration are as follows : — 
In Congress July 4 1776 | A Declaration | By the Representa- 
tives of the I United States of America | In General Congress 

566 



NOTES TO TEXT 

assembled . . . New York : Printed by Hugh Gaine in Han- 
over Square, The name Elias Darling is endorsed in a con- 
temporary hand. The dimensions of the broadside are 19 J 
inches X 11, but the left side has been slightly cut down for 
binding." 

6^ Taken from The New-Tork Journal^ etc., (C) of August 8th. 

^^ Also, see note 56, supra. 

71 This and the following quotation are taken from The Penn- 
sylvania Gazette (C) of July 24th. See also The Connecticut 
Courant^ etc., (C) of the I5thj The Boston-Gazette^ etc., (C) 
of the 22d ; The Pennsylvania Evening Post (C) of the 23d ; 
The New-England Chronicle (MsS) of the 25th ; The Connecticut 
Gazette^ etc., (N) and The Essex Journal^ etc., (C) of the 26th ; 
The Pennsylvania Ledger^ etc., (C) of the 27th ; The Maryland 
Gazette (Ann) of August ist ; and The Freeman's Journal^ etc., 
(Con) of August 3d. 

^^2 Joseph Trumbull. 

73 Williams. 

7^ The Declaration appears in The Connecticut Gazette^ etc., 
(Ha, N and NY) — published at New London — of this date 
and in The Connecticut Couranty etc., (C and Ha) — published at 
Hartford — of the 15th. 

75 Whether the Governor personally^ after discussion, was of 
this mind is not known ; but, certainly at first, he thought other- 
wise, for, in his reply (dated the 13th) to the letter of Hancock 
of the 6th, he says : " I shall have . . . [the Declaration] pro- 
claimed in the Colony in such a manner that the people may be 
universally informed of it." 

"^^ Taken from The Connecticut Couranty etc., (C) of July 
29th. See also The New- England Chronicle (MsS) of August 2d. 

'^'* Taken from The Pennsylvania Evening Post (C) of August 
1st. See also l^he Boston-Gazette^ etc., (C) of July 29th and 
The New-Tor k Journal^ etc., (C and Rid) of August 8th. 

567 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

78 Clarence S. Brigham, Librarian of the Rhode Island His- 
torical Society, in Providence, writes us, under date of September 
19, 1905, that there are two broadsides of the Declaration there. 
The first, he says, has the following heading : "In Congress, 
July 4, 1776, I A Declaration | By the Representatives of the | 
United States of America, | In General Congress assembled." 
and the following imprint: " Newport, June 13, 1776: Printed 
by S. Southwick." The second, he says, has the same heading 
but has : " Newport, Printed by S. Southwick." He adds : 
" (This is printed from the same type as the preceding . . . and 
differs from it in being the official Rhode Island copy and having 
the Secretary's official attestation. The imprint is also different.) '* 

79 and 80 Taken from The New-Tor k Journal^ etc., (C and Rid) 
of August 8th. 

^^ The Diary of Ezekial Price (See Proceedings of the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society^ VII, 260), who was residing temporarily 
at Stoughton, under date of the 13th, says: "Went to Boston. 
Our children are very comfortable. The mail from New York 
brings the declaration of the Continental Congress for IN DE- 
PENDENCE." To the same effect is Cooper's letter of the 
15th, p. 223. Also, see letter of Mrs. Abigail Adams, Appendix^ 
p. 349. The minutes of the Selectmen of Boston (See Reports 
of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston^ vol. 25, p. 2) 
do not show when received, except that it was between June 
17th and July 17th. 

^2 Taken from the copy (formerly in the Department of State 
and now in the Library of Congress) made by Richard Varick. 

^ Taken from The Bulletin of The Worcester Society of 
Antiquity for July, 1899. See this and also The Celebration by 
the Inhabitants of Worcester^ Alass.^ of the Centennial Anniversary 
of the Declaration of Independence (1876). 

Miles* Weekly Register (C and N) of August 5, 1826, says: 
"The first time the Declaration of Independence was pubHcly 

568 



NOTES TO TEXT 

read in Massachusetts was in this town. The express, on his 
way to Boston, furnished Isaiah Thomas, esq. with a copy for 
publication in this paper, of which he was at that time the 
publisher. The news of its receipt soon spread throughout the 
town, and a large concourse of people collected, all anxious to 
see or hear so extraordinary a document. To gratify their 
curiosity, Mr. Thomas ascended the portico of the south meet- 
ing house, (then the only one in town), and read it to those who 
were assembled. Half a century has since passed away . . . 
Mr. Thomas still lives . . . and yesterday joined in the celebra- 
tion of independence in the same house from which he read the 
declaration fifty years ago. [Worcester (Mass.) Spy,^' 

See note 8i, supra, 

^^ A star now marks the spot. See The Bulletin (See note S^t supra), 

^5 The Declaration appears in The American Gazette^ etc., (Ex) 
of this date ; in The Massachusetts Spy^ etc., (Bos) of the 17th; in 
The New-England Chronicle (Bos, C, MsS and PH) — headed: 
"Grand Council of America" — of the i8th; in The Essex "Jour- 
nal^ etc., (C) of the 19th; and in The Boston-Gazette^ etc., 
(C and Ms) of the 22d. 

^^ Taken from a copy of the Declaration printed (by E. 
Russell) in accordance therewith. See note 87, post. 

^' There is a copy of this broadside in the collection of Dr. 
Thomas Addis Emmet now in the New York Public Library 
(Lenox), a second in the Massachusetts Historical Society, in 
Boston, and a third in The Essex Institute, in Salem. 

The Lenox-copy begins as follows: " -^ 

I A DECLARATION | by the | REPRESENTATIVES | of 
the I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, | In GENERAL 
CONGRESS assembled." Below the body of the instrument, 
on the right side, is : " Signed by Order and in Behalf of the 
Congress, | JOHN HANCOCK, PRESIDENT. | Attest 

569 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

CHARLES THOMPSON, Secretary." Then comes the order 
given in the text (See note 86, suprd)^ preceded by : " In COUN- 
CIL, July 17th, 1776." and followed, on the left, by: "In the 
Name, and by Order of the Council, | eft-, John 

Avery, Dep. Sec'y." and, on the right, by: "R. =^ : 

Prefident." At the bottom of the page is : " ■ - ^■ ^ ' ■ ' ■ — 
achusetts-Bay : Printed by E. Russell, by Orde =^ =: " 

It is torn, as indicated, at the bottom, both on the right and left 
of the centre, and at the top — as if it had been nailed or pasted 
to something and torn loose. 

The Society-copy is minus a part of the right lower quarter, 
beginning with the last paragraph of the body of the instrument. 
Aside from a part of the order given in the text, only (except- 
ing, of course, the heading and most of the body of the instru- 
ment) the following appear: " JOH " ; " Attes " ; "In the 
Name, and by Order of"; "A true Copy Atteft, John Avery, 
D"; and "SALEM, Massachusetts-Bay: Printed". The 
heading is complete — having: "IN | CONGRESS, | July 4, 
1776." at the top. On the back is endorsed : " [Ms] On August 
I5^^I776, after the Conclusion of Divine Service, I read this Dec- 
laration, conformable to the Order of the Council of State ; and 
spake in Favour of a Compliance with the Continental Declara- 
tion — In witnesseth my Hand Samuel Mather." 

The copy in The Essex Institute is complete. It bears : " In 
the Name, and by Order of the Council, | A true Copy Atteft, 
John Avery, Dep. Sec'y."; " R. DERBY, Jun. Prefident."; and 
" SALEM, Massachusetts-Bay : Printed by E. Russell, by Order 
of Authority." It is endorsed: "[Ex] Reding rev^l M[ [Eliab] 
Stone". 

% 
John Avery writes to SherifF Greenleaf, August 5th : " I am 
directed by the honourable Committee of Council to acquaint 
you that the printed Declarations of Independency are on their 

570 



NOTES TO TEXT 

table, and they expect that you will take proper care that they 
be distributed through this State as soon as may be, that every 
town may have them publickly read in each religious assembly." 

n 

It seems probable^ therefore, that there were at least four 
broadsides printed in Massachusetts before this official copy was 
distributed ; for there is a broadside in the American Antiqua- 
rian Society at Worcester (See note 99, post)^ without a printer's 
imprint, two copies of another in The Essex Institute, also with- 
out a printer's imprint, another in the Massachusetts Historical 
Society (and in The Essex Institute), also without a print- 
er's imprint, and yet another in the Massachusetts Historical 
Society (and in the Bostonian Society in the Old State House 
in Boston), which bears the following: "AMERICA: Boston, 
Printed by JOHN GILL, and POWARS and WILLIS, in 
Queen-Street." 

The second begins : " IN | CONGRESS, | July 4, 1776. | A [ 
DECLARATION | BY THE | REPRESENTATIVES | OF 
THE I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,] In GENERAL 
CONGRESS assembled." The body of the instrument is in 
four columns, with the usual printed signatures, etc., of Hancock 
and Thomson (except that the latter's name Is spelled with a 
"/)") at the bottom. 

The third (For facsimile^ see J popular History of the United 
States^ etc., by William Cullen Bryant and Sydney Howard Gay, 
vol. 3, facing p. 482) begins: " In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. 
I A DECLARATION | By the REPRESENTATIVES of the 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,] In GENERAL CON- 
GRESS assembled." The body of the instrument is in two 
columns, with the usual printed signatures, etc., of Hancock and 
Thomson (except that the latter's name is spelled with a "/>") 
at the bottom of the second column. (The copy in The Essex 
Institute is endorsed, in the handwriting of Timothy Pickering : 

571 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

" [Ex] United American Colonies Declared Independent. July 4. 

1776.") 

The fourth (For facsimile^ see Narrative and Critical History 
of America by Winsor, vol. 6, p. 267) is the same as the third 
except that its heading has more leads and that, as stated, it 
bears the names of its printers. 

It would seem, therefore, that the third and the fourth were 
printed by the same printers, or perhaps by Gill only or by 
Powars and Willis only. The third — with fewer leads — was 
doubtless printed first. 

^^ The Declaration was published in (at least most of) the 
churches of Boston, August nth. Mrs. (Abagail) Adams, in a 
letter to her husband, John Adams, of the 14th, says : " [Ad] 
Last Sunday, after service, the Declaration of Independence was 
read from the pulpit by order of Council. The Dr. concluded 
with asking a blessing ' upon the United States of America even 
until the final restitution of all things.' Dr. Chauncey's address 
pleased me. The good man after having read it, lifted his eyes and 
hands to Heaven. 'God bless the United States of America, 
and let all the people say Amen.' One of his audience told me 
it universally struck them." Rev. Samuel Mather of North 
Church seems (See note 87, supra)^ however, to have read the 
Declaration on the 15th. Also, see the fourth paragraph of 
note 87, supra. 

Rev. Jacob Bailey of Pownalborough refused to read the 
Declaration. 

®^ Taken from The Pennsylvania Ledger^ etc., (C) of August 
24th. 

^^ See note 81, supra. 

91 Taken from Dunlap's., etc., (N) of August 5th. See also 
The Boston-Gazette^ etc., (C) of July 2 2d ; The American Gazette^ 
etc., (Ex) of the 23d ; The New-England Chronicle (C) of the 
25th; The Escex 'Journal.^ etc., (C) of the 26th; The Freeman's 

572 



NOTES TO TEXT 

Journal^ etc., (Con) of the 27th ; The Connecticut Gazette^ etc., 
(N) of August 2d; The Pennsylvania Evening Post (A and C) 
of August 3d ; The New-Tor k Journal^ etc., (C and Rid) of 
August 8th; and The Maryland Gazette (Ann) of August 15th. 

92 and 93 J n (-he copy of The New-England Chronicle (that of 
July 25th) in the State Library in Boston which contains this 
account, this word is erased and " State " substituted ; and, from 
the ink, this would appear to have been done by someone at the 
time. 

®* Taken from The Memorial History of Boston^ etc., edited 
by Justin Winsor (1881). 

^^ Taken from The New-Tor k 'Journal^ etc., (C and Rid) 
of August 8th. See also The Boston-Gazette^ etc., (C) of 
July 22d ; and The New-England Chronicle (MsS) of the 25th. 

^^ Taken from The New-England Chronicle (Bos and MsS) 
of August 2d. See also The Massachusetts Spy^ etc., (T) of 
July 24th. 

^ Dalton was doubtless present : see p. 224. 

^^ Taken from The Essex Journal^ etc., (C) of August 9th. 

^^ In the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester is a 
broadside of the Declaration (the printer of which is unknown) 
which, according to an accompanying letter from Simon Green- 
leaf, dated Portland, December 28, 1822, is " [T ] one of the 
original hand-bills ... It was posted up in Newburyport — and 
afterwards preserved by my grandfather the late Hon. Jonathan 
Greenleaf, who gave it to me — The error in the spelling of 
Mr— Hancock's name [Hacock] shews the great haste to an- 
nounce that great event — " It is headed : " -. 
July 4 1776 I DE =^ TION, | By the REPRESENTA- 
TIVES of the I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, | in GEN- 
ERAL CONGRESS AJfemhledr The body of the instrument 
is in two columns, with the printed signatures, etc., at the end 
of the second column. These are as follows : " Signed by 

573 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Order and in Behalf of the Congress, \]OYm HACOCK 
President." and '^Jttest\ CHARLES THOMPSON Secretary/* 

100 See note 115, chapter IX. 

101 Taken from Dunlafs, etc., (N) of August 5th. See also 
The Freeman's "Journal, etc., (Con) of July 20th. 

102 See p. 221. 

103 The Declaration appears In The Freeman's 'Journal, etc., 
(Con) published in Portsmouth of the 20th. 

10^ Taken from The Boston-Gazette, etc., (C) of August 12th. 

105 The Declaration had already appeared in the newspapers of 
Baltimore — in Dunlap's Maryland Gazette, etc., (Ba) of the 9th 
and in The Maryland Journal, etc., (Ba) of the loth. The latter 
paper — which, as we have seen (See p. 69) (See also note 108, 
post), evidently favored independence — headed the Declaration as 
follows: "The Thirteen UNITED STATES Of America, 
Have declared Independency [.] " It would seem that it had 
appeared also in The Maryland Gazette, published in Annapolis, 
of the nth; for Scharf so states and this number is missing from 
the files in the State Library in that city. 

106 See p. 240. 

This letter (or the one of similar date to Virginia) is now in 
the possession of George C. Thomas of Philadelphia. 

107 At a meeting of the Committee of Baltimore, July 30th, 
"The Chairman [William Lux] being informed by Mr. Robert 
Christie, Sheriff of this County, that he had reason to be appre- 
hensive of violence being offered to him, the said Sheriff, on 
account of his not attending to read the Declaration of Independ- 
ence on Monday last, agreeable to the desire of the Committee; 
and that from these apprehensions, he would be under the dis- 
agreeable necessity of retiring to the country, and withdrawing 
himself from the publick service; whereupon. Resolved, That 
the Committee do declare their utter disapprobation of all threats 
and violence . . ." 

574 



\ 



NOTES TO TEXT 

The Maryland yournal^ etc., (Ba) of July 31st displays this 
extract from the minutes of the Committee directly above its 
account (See note 10^^ post) of the proceedings. 

10^ Dunlap's^ etc., (N), of August 5th, says that the Declaration 
was proclaimed " at the Court House to a numerous and respect- 
able body of Militia and the company of Artillery, and other 
principal inhabitants of this town [Baltimore] and county, which 
was received with general applause and heart felt satisfaction : 
And at night the town was illuminated, and, at the same time, 
the Effigy of our late King was carted through the town and 
committed to the flames amidst the acclamations of many hun- 
dreds. — The just reward of a Tyrant." 

See also Dunlafs Maryland Gaxette^ etc., (Ba) of July 30th. 

The New-Tor k yournal^ etc., (C) of August 8th, copying from 
The Maryland yournal^ etc., (Ba) of July 31st, says: ". . . at 
12 o'clock, the Declaration of Independency was proclaimed at 
the Court-House in this town [Baltimore], at the head of the 
Independent and Artillery Companies, and the several Companies 
of Militia, to the great joy and satisfaction of the audience, with 
a discharge of cannon, &c. and universal acclamations for the 
prosperity of the Free United States — In the evening the effigy, 
representing the King of Great Britain, was carried through the 
town, to the no small mirth of the numerous spectators, after- 
wards thrown into the fire made for that purpose. Thus may it 
fare with all Tyrants." See note 107, supra, 

109 Xhis body had adjourned, July 6th. 

^^^ Speaking of the elections for this Convention, the Council 
of Safety — in a letter to the Delegates, dated Annapolis, 
August 9th — say: " [Md] We shall say nothing particular 
about the elections more than what relates to yourselves, S. Chase 
is in for Ann', Wm. P[aca]. & Carrollton Carroll for Annapolis. 
T. J[ohnson]. & T. Stone are left out, and there is a very great 
change in the members in all Counties, according to the intel- 

575 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

ligence we have." In a similar vein, though mistaken as to the 
leaving-out of Goldsborough and Tilghman, writes R. H. Lee 
(then at Belle View, on his way to Philadelphia), in a letter to 
Henry, dated August 20th : " [Q] I learn from Maryland that 
the counties have excluded from their new Convention, all those 
that have been famous for Moderation, as it is strangely called, 
and under this idea, that Johnson, Gouldsborough, Stone, and 
Tilghman are left out, with the new delegates to Congress, 
Alexander and Rodgers." (We think the omission of Alexander 
must have been on other grounds: see note 51, chapter IX. As 
to Stone, see p. 69.) 

m Pendleton writes to Jefferson from " Caroline ", July 29th: 
" [S] The Gov"" [Henry] has been 111 ever since his appointment, 
is on the recovery, & was I hear on Saturday last to go to 
Hanover to perfect his health." 

^^^ For Page's letter of the same date to Jefferson, see p. 224. 

^^^ Taken from The Virginia Ga'zette (C) of July 26th. (See 
note 114, post.) 

^^* An abstract of the Declaration appears in The Virginia 
Gazette (C) of July 19th. It appears in full — headed by the 
above order — in the same paper (C) of the 26th. 

^^^ This and the following quotation are taken from The 
Virginia Gazette (C) of July 26th. See also The Pennsylvania 
Evening Post (C) of August 6th; The Pennsylvania Gazette 
(N) of August 7th; and The New-Tork jQurnal^-Qic.^ (C) of 
August 15th. 

^^^ This and the following quotation are taken from The 
Virginia Gazette (C) of August loth. 

^^'^ See note 51, chapter IX. 

1^^ Sherill (See note 9, chapter II) writes us, under date of 
January 10, 1902, that there are no broadsides of the Declaration 
to be found in North Carolina. 

11^ Taken from J Defence^ etc., by Jones. He says : " I re- 

576 



NOTES TO TEXT 

ceived the account of this ceremony from a pious and elderly 

lady, who was present on the occasion, and whose friendship 

and acquaintance I esteem the more, because it descended to 
me as an inheritance." 

» 

Sherill says (also) that there seem to be no newspapers on file in 
the Library Department containing any copy of the Declaration 
or any accounts of proceedings in celebration of it. 

^20 This quotation is taken from Traditions^ etc., by Johnson. 
See, however, note 122^ post. 

121 Nela M. Davis of Charleston writes us, under date 
of January 12, 1902 : ". . . there are no broadsides of the 
Declaration in the Charleston Library. I looked carefully & 
was also informed by the Librarian that there were none. I also 
enquired of the Sec. of the ' South Carolina Historical Society ' 
if anything, pertaining to the subject matter of your inquiry, 
could be found in his Library, or among his papers, but he 
had nothing.'* 

122 Tphe following : " We have just received Accounts, That 
the General Congress on July 4th. declared these United Colo- 
nies to be FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES — " 
appears in The South Carolina and American General Gazette 
(Ch), published in Charleston, of August 2d. As the next pre- 
vious issue seems to have been May 31st, however, this statement 
may not be in conflict with Johnson's. Moreover, the state- 
ment as found in Drayton (See note 127, post) would seem 
merely to have been drawn from this newspaper. Both Johnson 
and Drayton may, however, be correct, if an express separate 
from the one sent by the Delegates was sent by Congress. 

123 As if almost fearful of making the announcement and cer- 
tainly, we think, doubtful of its reception, the Delegates preceded 
this paragraph by a long paragraph treating of certain resolutions 
of Congress respecting the forces of the Colony. 

^7 577 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^24 Curiously enough, this was the very day the Declaration 
was submitted to Congress by the committee. 

125 Henry Laurens (See note 94, chapter III), when in prison 
in the Tower in London, described (See Collections of the South- 
Carolina Historical Society) his feelings on the occasion thus : 
"When intelligence of that event reached Charles Town, where 
I was, and that I was called upon to join in a procession for 
promulgating the declaration. I happened to be in mourning, 
and in that garb * I attended the solemn, and as I felt it, awful 
renunciation of an union, which I had at the hazard of my life 
and reputation most ardently strove to conserve and support. 
In truth, I wept that day as I had done for the melancholy 
catastrophe, which caused me to put on black clothes — the 
death of a son, and felt much more pain. I thought, and openly 
declared, that in my private opinion Congress had been too hasty 
in shutting the door against reconciliation, but I did not know 
at that moment that Great Britain had first drawn the line of 
separation by the act of parliament, which threw the resisting 
colonies out of her protection, and forced them into a state of 
independence f . . . I wept and felt deeply for the calamities, 
which in a moment, I foresaw and predicted would befall both 
countries, and which have since come to pass ; these are not 
pretences of the present date made in the Tower. All my letters 
to Mr. Oswald, to Mr. Manning, to my brother, to my sons, 
and to my eldest daughter, in 1775 and 1776 will corroborate 
my present assertions. When I was informed of the Hne of 
separation above alluded to, I perceived the ground on which 
Congress had founded their declaration, and submitted to the 
unavoidable act ... I must nevertheless confess, if I had been 
president or member [of Congress], and had known of the above 
mentioned act of parliament, I should have given my vote for 
the declaration of independency, for independent the colonies 
were, to all intents and purposes, the moment Great Britain 

578 



NOTES TO TEXT 

declared them to be out of her protection . . . But understand 
me. I say, I should have given my vote for the declaration of 
independence from the necessity of the case, not from an opin- 
ion, that the people of America would be happier than they had 
been under the ancient connexion with Great Britain ; a con- 
tinuance of that connexion [was] the wish of my heart, as it 
would have been a continuance of the glory and happiness of 
both countries." 

" * My attendance upon that occasion in deep mourning, was 
much remarked, and gave great offence to some of the people." 
" f I have been assured there was great resistance in Congress 
against independence, and that the declaration would not have 
found a sufficient number of advocates, if that act of Parliament 
had not given a turn to the mind of every man in opposition." 

A letter from him dated Charleston, March 24, 1776, to 
Lachlan Mcintosh, says : " [Cs] the Intelligence we received 
yesterday from Philadelphia added to the late Act of Parliament 
which came through your Town, puts all possibility of reconcili- 
ation with Great Britain upon terms formerly proposed, aside — 
yet I feel myself lighter I think better terms are not far distant 

— but I feel nevertheless & I grieve for England her glory and 
her honour are eclipsed her power will sink — I grieve for her as 
for the loss of an old & much loved friend — in a word I see 
the time advancing very fast when the declaration which I have 
oft made to Men of consequence in that Island & perhaps oft in 
your hearing, will be accomplished — her Conquest be her defeat 

— possibly worse if her ancient Rival should interpose in earnest, 
she may suffer nothing but defeat — " (For another portion of 
this letter, see note 96, chapter III.) 

A letter from the same place to John Laurens dated March 
28th (1776) says: "[Hs] The Constitution [See p. 88j was 

579 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

proclaimed in due form & under a grand & most decent 
solemnity, attended by the acclamations of the People without 
noise or confusion — necessity impelled this measure & every 
faithful heart wishes that its duration may be shortned by a 
happy accomodation of the present destructive contest between 
the Mother Country and these United Colonies." 

^26 See Memoirs^ etc., by Drayton, vol. 2, p. 315, note f , 
He says that this tree was situated "just beyond Gadsden's and 
Lynch's pasture, over the creek at Hempstead.'' 

^2^ The South Carolina and American General Gazette (Ch) of 
August 14th contains the following : " On Monday last Week 
[August 5th] the DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE 
was proclaimed here, amidst the Acclamations of a vast Con- 
course of People." See also Dunlap^s^ etc., (N) of September 
17th; The Pennsylvania Journal^ etc., (C) of the 1 8th; The 
Maryland Gazette (Ann) of the 26th ; and The Essex yournal^ 
etc., (C) of October 4th. 

Drayton, in Memoirs^ etc., says : "... an express arrived 
from the Continental Congress on the 2d of August, with 
accounts ; that on the 4th day of July, that body, had declared 
the United Colonies, Free and Independent States . . . The 
account was received, with the greatest joy ; and on the 5th of 
August, Independency was declared by the civil authority : the 
President, accompanied by all the officers, civil and military, 
making a grand procession on the occasion. And, in the after- 
noon of the same day, in pursuance of general orders for that 
purpose, the whole of the troops then in Charlestown, as well 
continental as provincial, were paraded near Liberty-Tree ; 
where, the Declaration of Independence was read to them, by 
Major Barnard Elliott ; after which, an address was delivered on 
the occasion, by the Reverend Mr. Piercy." 

128 It appears that Rutledge — two years later — vetoed a 
bill declaring that it was necessary to frame a new constitution 

580 



NOTES TO TEXT 

based upon the independence of South Carolina, stating that he 
deemed reconciliation with Great Britain just as desirable as in 
1776. 

^^ Considerable light is thrown upon the situation in South 
Carolina by The History of South Carolina in the Revolution by 
Edward Mc Crady. 

130 Taken from The Pennsylvania Gazette (N) of October 
9th. See also The Essex Journal^ etc., (C) of November 8th. 

131 Taken from The History of Georgia by Charles C. Jones, 
Jr. 



CHAPTER XII 
1 Taken from The Pennsylvania Gazette (N) of July 9, 1777. 



CHAPTER XIII 



1 The Declaration (See facing p. 284) thus printed bears the 
same heading (though the lining is different) as the Declara- 
tion on parchment: "In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. | THE 
UNANIMOUS I DECLARATION | of the | Thirteen United 
States of AMERICA." The body of it is in two broad 
columns, beneath which, in the center of the page, is : " John 
Hancock." Then come, in four columns, the names of the 
other signers (except M:Kean) — grouped by brackets and 
headed respectively by the name of the Colony which they 
represented. Georgia, North and South Carolina and Maryland 
are in the first ; Virginia and Pennsylvania in the second ; 
Delaware, New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire in the 
third ; and Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut in the 
last. These are followed by the order given in the text, 
headed: "In CONGRESS, January 18, 1777." and ending: 



I 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

« By Order of CONGRESS, | John Hancock, Prefidentr At 
the bottom is : " Baltimore, in Maryland : Printed by Mary 
Katharine Goddard." 

There are two copies in the New York Public Library 
(Lenox), in the collections of Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet and 
Theodore Bailey Myers, the latter of which may be found 
facsimiled in Orderly Book of Sir John yohnson^ p. 220. Both 
have written endorsements — in the handwriting respectively of 
Hancock and Thomson — as follows : " [N and NM] Attest 
Cha^ Thomson fec^ j A True Copy | John Hancock Presid* ". 
Perhaps one is the copy formerly (See note 21, chapter VHI) 
in the files of the State of New York. There is a third copy 
in the Boston Public Library, a fourth in the files of the State of 
Massachusetts and a fifth in the Library of Congress. These 
also contain written endorsements like the Lenox copies. 

George S. Godard, Librarian of the State Library of Connec- 
ticut, writes us, under date of September 18, 1905, that there 
is a copy there, with similar written endorsements j Charles P. 
Bennett, Secretary of State of Rhode Island, writes us, under 
the same date, that the files there contain a like copy ; and 
Oswald Tilghman, Secretary of State of Maryland, writes us, 
under date of October 2, 1905, that there is a copy in the 
State House in Annapolis, which, he says, is signed by Hancock 
*' as certifying to the same." 

This authenticated copy was copied in the yournal of the 
House of Representatives of New Hampshire in red ink, 

% 
(Why M:Kean's name does not appear on the authenticated 
copy — Also, see note 15, chapter IX — has never been ac- 
counted for, though various theories have at different times been 
advanced. See — also — notes 18 and 21, chapter IX, and the 
letters of M : Kean, p. 193 and Appendix, pp. 299, 301 and 

303O 

582 



NOTES TO TEXT 

^ Of course, the Declaration on parchment may have been 
left in Philadelphia ; though this, or that an " authenticated " 
copy would have been ordered by Congress under such circum- 
stances, seems hardly possible. 

3 In 1 79 1, this was at No. 307 High Street. 

^ See p. 194. 

^ See note i, chapter IX. 

^ See note 2, chapter IX, 

^ It is said that a small " packet sloop " brought all of the 
possessions of the infant Republic. 

8 See The Pictorial Field Book of the War of 18 12. 
Also, see " When Dolly Madison saved the Declaration of 
Independence " by Clifford Howard in the Ladies" Home ^Journal 
for July, 1897. 

Paul Jennings, the colored body-servant of Madison at the time, 
in A Colored Maris Reminiscences of fames Madison (1865), says : 
" It has often been stated in print, that when Mrs. Madison es- 
caped from the White House, she cut out from the frame the 
large portrait of Washington (now in one of the parlors there), and 
carried it off. This is totally false. She had no time for doing 
it. It would have required a ladder to get it down. All she car- 
ried off was the silver in her reticule, as the British were thought 
to be but a few squares off, and were expected every moment." 

^ Taken from A Sketch of The Events which preceded the 
Capture of Washington by the British by Edward D. Ingraham, 
published at Philadelphia in 1849. 

^^ Whether or not this note is in existence, we do not know ; 
but see note 1 1, post. 

11 In a report, dated October 17, 1814, he says: " [D] In the 
afternoon of the 23d [of August] I returned to Washington, and 
during the night of that day the President transmitted to me the 
letter, of which that which follows is a copy : ' . . . [Signed] 
James Monroe. Tuesday [the 23d], 9 o'clock. You had 

583 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

better move the records.* " It would thus (and from Pleason- 
ton's account) seem that Monroe wrote not only to the President 
but also to one of the officers of the Department of State and that 
Armstrong was not notified by the President until after Pleasonton, 
in accordance with a direct order of the Secretary of State, had 
packed up the papers belonging to that Department. 

^2 Monroe, in his report (November 14, 18 14) to the House 
of Representatives, called for by a resolution of October 24th, 
says : " [D] . . . when it became apparent from the movements 
of the enemy, after his debarkation at Benedict, that his destina- 
tion was the seat of Government, every exertion was made, and 
every means employed, for the removal of the books and papers 
of this office, to a place of safety ; and, notwithstanding the ex- 
treme difficulty in obtaining the means of conveyance, it is be- 
lieved that every paper and manuscript book of the office, of any 
importance, including those of the old Government . . . were 
placed in a state of security." 

13 In Niles' Weekly Register (N) of July 6, 18 16, John 
Binns (See Appendix^ note 39) of No. 70 Chestnut Street, 
Philadelphia, announces the forthbringing by him of an engrav- 
ing of the Declaration (accompanied by a pamphlet). Under 
date of June 8th, he says : " The original declaration of inde- 
pendence, as deposited in the secretary of state's office, was hap- 
pily preserved when so many valuable papers were consumed by 
the enemy." 

1* This plate is now in the steel safe (See p. 292) in the 
Library of the Department of State. 

See facing p. 208. 

These facsimiles bear " w. J. stone sc. washn " 
1^ Jefferson, John Adams and Charles Carroll of Carrollton 
only were alive at this time. 

t 
584 



NOTES TO TEXT 

The letter of transmittal to Jefferson — headed : " [S] Depart- 
ment of State Washington 24 June 1824." and signed by John 
Quincy Adams — reads as follows : " In pursuance of a joint 
Resolution, of the two Houses of Congress, a copy of which is 
hereto annexed, and by direction of the President of the United 
States, I have the honour of transmitting to you two fac simile 
copies of the Declaration of Independence, engrossed on parch- 
ment . . . Of this Document, unparalleled in the annals of Man- 
kind, the original deposited in this Department exhibits your 
name as one of the Subscribers — The rolls herewith transmitted 
are copies as exact as the art of engraving can present of the In- 
strument itself, as well as of the signatures to it. While per- 
forming the duty thus assigned to me, permit me to felicitate you 
and the Country which is reaping the reward of your labours, as 
well that your hand was affixed to this record of glory, as that 
after the lapse of near half a century, you survive to receive this 
tribute of reverence and gratitude from your children, the present 
fathers of the Land." 

JefFerson (as shown by what Is evidently the original draft 
formerly in the Department of State and now in the Library of 
Congress) answers him from Monticello, July i8th: "I have 
received the two copies of the fac simile of the Decln of Indepdce 
which you have been so kind as to send me under a resoln of 
Congress, with due sense of respect for this mark of attention to 
myself I contemplate with pleasure the evidence afforded of rev- 
erence for that instrument, and view in It a pledge of adhesion 
to it's principles, and of a sacred determination to maintain and 
perpetuate them." 

# 

JefFerson and Adams both died on July 4, 1826. 

JefFerson wrote (See The Writings of Thomas Jefferson by H. 
A. Washington) on June 24th to Mayor Roger C. Weightman : 
"The kind invitation I receive from you, on the part of the 

S85 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

citizens of the city of Washington, to be present with them at 
their celebration on the fiftieth anniversary of American inde- 
pendence, as one of the surviving signers of an instrument preg- 
nant with our own, and the fate of the world, is most flattering 
to myself, and heightened by the honorable accompaniment pro- 
posed for the comfort of such a journey. It adds sensibly to the 
sufferings of sickness, to be deprived by it of a personal participa- 
tion in the rejoicings of that day. But acquiescence is a duty, 
under circumstances not placed among those we are permitted 
to control. I should, indeed, with peculiar delight, have met 
and exchanged there congratulations personally with the small 
band, the remnant of that host of worthies who joined with us 
on that day, in the bold and doubtful election we were to make 
for our country, between submission or the sword ; and to have 
enjoyed with them the consolatory fact, that our fellow citizens, 
after half a century of experience and prosperity, continue to 
approve the choice we made. May it be to the world, what I 
believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but 
finally to all) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains 
under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded 
them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security 
of self-government. That form which we have substituted, re- 
stores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and 
freedom of opinion. All eyes are open, or opening, to the rights 
of man. The general spread of the light of science has already 
laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of man- 
kind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored 
few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the 
grace of God. These are grounds of hope for others. For our- 
selves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recol- 
lections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them." 
Adams replied to a similar invitation from New York City : 
" [J] Not these United States alone, but a mighty continent, the 

586 



NOTES TO TEXT 

last discovered, but the largest quarter of the globe, Is destined 
to date the period of its birth and emancipation from the 4th 
of July, 1776.'* 

Following their deaths, Charles Carroll of Carrollton writes 
(July 19, 1826) from Doughoregan, to Charles H. Wharton: 
" Though I disapproved of M.\ Jefferson's administration, & was 
dissatisfied with a part of M.\ Adam's both unquestionably greatly 
contributed to the Independence of this country : their services 
should be remembered, and their errors forgotten and forgiven. 
This evening, I am going to Baltimore to attend tomorrow the 
procession & ceremonies to be paid to the memories of those 
praised & dispraised Presidents ... I was not in Congress when 
the vote of Indepence was taken as soon as I took my seat 
I signed that important declaration which has thus far produced, 
& I hope will perpetuate the happiness of these States — " 
(Taken from the facsimile in the collection of Theodore Bailey 
Myers now in the New York Public Library, Lenox, which 
states that the original is in the possession of R. C. Davis of 
Philadelphia.) 

(Niks' Weekly Register^ C and N, of August 5, 1826, contains 
the oration of General Samuel Smith in the Park at Baltimore on 
July 20th, and states that he said : " It [the Declaration] passed 
congress on the 4th July, 1776, and was signed Immediately by 
all present, and being spread upon the table was signed by such 
as had been absent, as they took their seats in the house . . . 
And on the 4th of July, 1776, he [Carroll] was elected to con- 
gress. He took his seat on the i8th — and immediately signed 
the Declaration of Independence.") 

Carroll lived until 1832. On May 23, 1828, Congress 
granted to him — " [D^] the only surviving signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence " — the privilege of the frank. A like 
privilege had been given to Adams, February 25, 1801, and to 
Jefferson, June 28, 1809. 

587 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

16 See Appendix ,, p. 346. 

17 Taken from the copy in the Department of State. 
1^ The Declaration was evidently one of these. 

1^ Taken from the original in the Department of the Interior. 

2^ For photograph, see The Declaration of Independence by 
Michael, between pp. 16 and 17, and The Ladies' Home 'Journal 
for July, 1898. 

21 For photograph, see The Declaration of Independence by 
Michael, facing p. 16, and The Ladies' Home Journal for July, 
1898. 

22 On the door of the cabinet (referred to in the text) from 
which the Declaration was removed appears the following : 
" [S] The rapid fading of the text of the original Declaration 
of Independence and the deterioration of the parchment upon 
which it is engrossed, from exposure to the light and from lapse 
of time, render it impracticable for the Department longer to 
exhibit it or to handle it. For the secure preservation of its 
present condition, so far as may be possible, it has been carefully 
wrapped and placed flat in a steel case ... In lieu of the 
original a fac simile is placed here. By order of the Secretary 
of State." 

. 23 See facing p. 218. 



Csss; 



Notes to Appendix 



Notes to Appendix 

1 See note 12, chapter IV j note 5, chapter VII j and p. 197. 

2 See note 15, post. 

8 This erasure was made evidently at the time of writing. The copy of 
the wo/^-j sent to Madison in 1783 says : '*. . . the proposition . . ." 

* These corrections were made evidently at the time of writing. The 
copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as follows : " they proceeded 
to take it into . . . which they immediately . . ." 

5 The line (in the original MS., three lines) through the "&", the "^" 
and "& South Carolina", as well as the line (in the original MS., four lines) 
through **off ", are, we think, in different ink than the body of the notes — 
the ink of the line through "off" looking darker but not (and, strangely 
enough, also that of the line through «&", we think) quite as black, we 
think, as that of *'& South Carolina" and of the "/s^". The copy of the 
«o/^j sent to Madison in 1783 reads as follows : **. . . Delaware & Maryland 
were not yet matured for falling from the parent stem . . ." Jefferson's 
letter of August 29, 1787, to the editor of the Journal of Paris says : ** [P] 
it appeared in the course of the debates that 7. [This is written over what 
seems to be an 8^ but which is perhaps a 6] states, viz N. Hampshire, Massa- 
chusets, Rhodeisland, Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina & Georgia were 
decided for a separation, but that 6. others still hesitated, to wit. New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland & South Carolina. Con- 
gress, desirous of unanimity, & seeing that the public mind was advancing 
rapidly to it, referred the further discussion to the 1^} of July . . ." This 
portion of the copy of the notes zs embodied in his letter of May 12, 18 19, to 
Wells may be found at p. 197. The words "had not yet advanced to" 
were erased evidently at the time of writing. 

® These corrections were made evidently at the time of writing. The 
copy of the «o/^j sent to Madison in 1783 says: ". . . to do it. it . . ." 

'' This and all the following marginal notes (except those in the Declara- 
tion proper) are in black ink, the same, we think, as the ink of *'& South 
Carolina" (See note 5, supra) ; and there are no such marginal notes in the 
copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

* This erasure was made evidently at the time of writing. The copy of 
the notes sent to Madison in 1783 says :**... which was . . .*' 

® The "^" and " Edward" are, we think, in different (yet brown) ink 
than the body of the notes^ seeming to be of the same color as (though per- 
haps slightly darker than) that of the copy of the notes sent to Madison in 
1783. This copy reads as follows: "mrRutlege . . ." Also, see p. 198. 

!<> This correction was made evidently at the time of writing. The copy 
of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as follows : ". . . then requested 
the . . ." 

^^ This erasure was made evidently at the time of writing. The words 
do not appear in the copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783. 

12 This interlineation was made evidently at the time of writing. The 
copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as follows: "... when 
it was again moved & S. Carolina . . ." 

12 This <« * " is in black ink, and is not in the copy of the notes sent 
to Madison in 1783. Indeed, see p. 198. 

" The copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as follows : 
**. . . it, & thus supplied . . ."" The corrections in the notes look, how- 
ever, darker than the body of the notes and even than this copy. The line 
(in the original MS., a scroll) through "by their vote to" is quite black, 
and so are also the last three letters (which are written over a y) of ** supplied " ; 
**and thus" and the **^" do not seem so black. 

15 Through the 'word ^^ to " (which is near the middle of the sixth line on 
page 7), the notes (except where we have otherwise indicated by notes) 
are in a reddish-brown ink. Thence through the Declaration (except where 
we will similarly indicate), the ink looks darker — darker than the ink of the 
copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 (but not black like that of "& 
South Carolina", see note 5, supra). Part way through the Declaration, 
as we have seen (See note 47, chapter VII), however, the ink seems again to 
change (but only slightly) ; while the portion of the notes folloiving the Dec- 
laration are of almost the same color (See note 35, post) as the portion 
preceding this word "to". We are not prepared to say what this indicates. 
It may be simply that the notes were written at four (or perhaps three) 
sittings, because of the lengthy and that no great space of time intervened. 
On the other hand, in a letter of June i, 17S3, to Madison, enclosing the 
copy of the notes made for him, Jefferson, as we shall see (See p. 3j[2), 
says : *^as you were desirous of having a copy of the original of the dec- 
laration of Independance I have inserted it at full length distinguishing 
the alterations it underwent", which might be understood to mean that the 
Declaration was ^^ inserted'''' at that time. This, however, seems scarcely 
possible when we consider the continuity of the notes and the paging. Also, 
see notes 31, 32 and 33, post. 



NOTES TO APPENDIX 

^® This interlineation was made evidently at the time of writing. The 
copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as follows : ". . . pre- 
ceding, and on Monday referred to a commee of the whole, the . . ." 

^■^ The copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 reads as follows : 
**. . . complaisance to S. Carolina . . ."" The *^^\ "with'' and the 
line crossing out " with'' and the line (in the original MS., two lines) cross- 
ing out "to" are in blacker ink (seemingly of the same color as that of 
"& South CaroHna'% see note 5, supra) than that of the surrounding 
portion of the notes. Jefferson evidently changed his mind about the advisa- 
bility of the correction after making it. 

^8 This erasure was made probably at the time of writing. The copy 
of the notes sent to Madison in 1783 says :*'... tender under . . ." 

1^ We think that here Jefferson intended to have a period, a colon, a 
semicolon or at least a comma. 

Indeed, this portion of the notes in the copy sent to Madison In 1783 
reads as follows : " the debates having taken up the greater parts of the 
2^ 3^ & 4* days of July, were, in the evening of the last, closed ; the 
declaration was reported by the comiiiee, agreed to by the house, & signed 
by every member except mr Dickinson, as the sentiments of men are known 
not only by what they receive, but what they reject also, I will state the 
form of the declaration as originally reported, the parts struck out by- 
Congress shall be distinguished by a black line drawn under them j & those 
inserted by them shall be placed in the margin or in a concurrent column." 

This portion of Jefferson's letter of 1787 to the editor of the Journal of 
Paris is given in note 20, post. 

We have already seen (See p. 199) that there Is a colon here in the notes 
as copied in the letter of 18 19 to Wells. 

^ This Is in slightly darker ink (but, we think, not quite so dark as that 
of "& South Carolina", see note 5, supra) than that of the surrounding 
portion of the notes^ the word itself is perceptibly larger and the pen used 
was evidently considerably sharper. It does not appear in the copy of the 
notes sent to Madison In 1783 (See note 19, supra) ; and the letter written 
by Jefferson to the editor of the Journal of Paris in 1787 reads as follows : 
«' [P] in the evening of the 4'^ they [the debates] were finally closed, and the 
Instrument approved by an unanimous vote, and signed by every member, 
except Mr Dickenson, look Into the journals of Congress of that day, Sir, 
and you will see the Instrument, and the names of the signers, and that mr 
Dickinson's name Is not among them." We believe that it was added by 
Jefferson in 18 1 Q, at the time when he first wrote to Wells ; for this word is 
interlined in the notes as quoted (See p. 199) in that letter, and the pen and 
ink used in writing it ('* present" In the notes) are, we think, the same as 
those used In writing that letter. 

38 593 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

^^ This line, interlined as indicated, is, we think, in different ink than 
that of the surrounding portion of the notes — being lighter (brown) in color 
and seemingly of the same color as that of the copy of the notes sent to 
Madison in 1783. See note 19, supra. The period after " reported" was 
doubtless added at the same time. 

22 This word seems to be in the same ink as that to which note 21, supra^ 
refers. See note 19, supra. Something was first erased — we think, its 
form. 

23 It is very difficult to make out the last of these three words ; but we 
think it is "subjoined". The entire erasure, like the corrections to which 
note 21, supray refers, seems to have been made at the time of making the 
copy of the notes sent to Madison in 1783. See note 19, supra. 

2* This correction is in the same ink as that of the surrounding portion 
of the notes and was made evidently at the time of writing that portion. See 
note 19, supra. 

25 This correction seems to be in the same ink as that to which note 21, 
supray refers. See note 19, supra. 

26 The «&", *<by them shall be", the «*/', the line (in the original 
MS., a scroll) through «are" and the "a" before "concurrent" seem to 
be in the same ink as that to which note 21, supra^ refers. The "a" is 
written outside — before a line. The *<s" in *' columns" and the line 
(in the original MS. , two lines) through it seem to be in the same ink as the 
word itself. 

27 This slip is in brown ink, but the pen used was evidently heavier than 
that used for any part of the notes. It is, of course, not found in the copy 
of the notes sent to Madison in 1783. See note 28, post. 

28 From the facts that this line is so closely written and that the ink is 
lighter (brown) in shade than that of the following lines, we infer that it was 
an afterthought j and it seems almost certain (indeed, the pen and ink are 
quite similar) that the main portion of the slip was penned at, or soon after, 
the time of writing the letter to Wells of which Jefferson speaks and that 
(the pen and ink are evidently the same) this line was added (after the slip 
had been pasted onto page 12 of the notes') at the time when Jefferson (follow- 
ing the receipt of a printed copy of the secret domestic Journal) added the 
postscript (See p. 203) to that letter, viz., August 6, 1822. 

29 See note 28, chapter IX. 

80 See p. 196. 

81 Whether he means to page 7 (that is, through page 6) or through page 
7 is not clear ; but we believe that he means through page 7 — or, at least, 
through that portion of it which precedes (See note 32, post) the Declaration. 

*2 The erasure of the words *'this and" does not necessarily indicate 
that the Declaration as found on pages 7 to 12 inclusive of the notes was not 
written at the time (or practically so) pages " i. to 7." were written. The 

594 



NOTES TO APPENDIX 

line (in the original MS., several lines) through "this and" appears to be 
in slightly darker (brown) ink than the body of the slip j the **^" seems to 
be and ** from i. to 7. of" evidently is in the same ink as the body of the 
slip. See notes 15 and 31, supra^ and 35, post. This would indicate that 
««from I. to 7. of" was inserted at the time of writing and that *<this and" 
was erased subsequently. It is not at all unlikely, therefore, that Jefferson 
inserted " from i. to 7. of" because (and when) he remembered that he 
was here speaking of the notes as taken ** in my place " and afterwards 
written "out in form " and that the Declaration as here embodied was not 
a part of the notes as taken " in my place" and that he erased "this and" 
simply because it occurred to him that it would be improper to say *<from i. 
to 7. of this and the two preceding sheets", for the reason that pages ** i. 
to 7." are not <♦ of this " sheet at all but are wholly of <* the two preceding 
sheets". 

^ It seems to us evident that each of the sheets spoken of by Jefferson 
comprises (front and reverse) Jour pages. The notes are bound (See note 12, 
chapter IV) so tightly, however, that we cannot be certain. 

34 The notes end on the twentieth page — all following the Declaration 
seeming, from the ink, to have been written at one sitting. 

3-^ The ink from here on (See note 34, supra) is very slightly lighter 
(reddish-brown) in color than the body of the notes preceding the word " to " 
(See note 15, supra) ; and a sharper pen, it would seem, was used. 

*^ Taken (except what is between brackets) from what is endorsed : 
<< [N] Rough draft of a L'.® respecting the Declaration of Independence. 
August 4^ 1796. — " 

» 

What is between brackets (except ** taught me to think less unfavorably 
of skepticism than formerly" ) is taken from Lanvs of the Commonnjoealth of 
Pennsyl'vania^ etc., republished by A. J. Dallas, vol. i, wherein the extracts 
quoted in the letter to Messrs. Wm. M'Corkle & Son, post^ are given, 
headed as follows : ** On comparing the names above subscribed to the 
Declaration of Independence, with the names subscribed to the same instru- 
ment, as printed in the Journals of Congress (2d vol. page 241) the editor 
discovered a variance, which it was his duty to investigate, and ascertain the 
cause. Having, therefore, procured a certificate from the Secretary of State, 
that the name of Thomas McKean^ the Chief-Justice of Pennsylvania, was 
affixed in his own hand-writing to the original Declaration of Independence, 
though it is omitted in the Journals of Congress, that gentleman was requested 
to furnish an explanation j and from his obliging answer the following extracts 
are taken : ". 

^"^ This is written over an M. 

28 He is mistaken : see noce 18, chapter IX, 

595 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ' 

^ Taken from the facsimile in The Book of the Signers y etc. , edited by 
William Brotherhead. J. M. C. Rodney of Wilmington, Del., writes us, 
under date of December a, 1899, that the original is in his possession. 

For the letter to which it is a reply, see note 7, chapter IX. 

Both letters, it will be noted, are dated August aadj but M:Kean says, 
it also will be noted: "Your favor of the 224 last month . . . came safe 
to hand ..." Of course, we do not know which of the two was in error 
in the date, though it seems to us probable that M : Kean was. 

8 

A copy of this letter of August 22, 181 3, was sent by Caesar Augustus 
Rodney to Jefferson, with a letter, dated Wilmington, March 16, 1823, in 
which Rodney says : **[S] When I had the pleasure of visiting you at Mon- 
ticello, I mentioned a letter from the late Governor M Kean to me, relating 
to occurrences, on the day that Congress adopted the Declaration of Inde- 
pence, which I had lent to MT Binns [See note 13, chapter XIII], who, 
unfortunately, mislaid it. the other day he was lucky enough to find it, 
& to deliver it to me ; and I now enclose you, agreeably to my promise, 
a copy of the original, that you may compare it with your minutes to ascer- 
tain whether it be correct." 

Jefferson replied, April 12th : "[P] what he [M:Kean] says of your 
respected uncle is all true and within my own recollection, his memory 
has failed him in some other particulars of no importance. he has con- 
founded two distinct votes and blended together the transactions on them 
as if on one, to wit the vote on the Virga proposn to declare independce 
and the ultimate declaration, but the error is quite unimportant." 

^ Taken from The Freemans Journal and Columbian Chronicle (C) of 
the 20th. The letter may be found also in Kiles'' Weekly Register (N) of 
June 28th. 

*i No attempt has been made to indicate the size or character of the type 
or writing, except to indicate capitals. 

The lining of the titles — and of those portions only — is indicated by a J. 

*2 See p. 208 and chapter XIII. 

*8 See p. 170. 

** Taken from the copy (See facing p. 170) wafered into the rough Journal. 

See (also) p. 170 and the notes thereto. 

*6 See p. 344. 

^ See p. 347. 

*7 See p. 348. 

*8 See p. 348. 

It follows from the facts there given that the changes from this draft in the 
handwriting of John Adams (representing practically, as there indicated. 



NOTES TO J PP EN BIX 

the ** Rough draught'' of Jefferson as originally draivn') found in the three 
drafts just above it (which represent the "Rough draught" of Jefferson as 
corrected before the Declaration was submitted to Congress : see note 48, 
chapter VI) were made after it was made. Where these changes were made 
by any one other than Jefferson (assuming, of course, that all changes in his 
handwriting were his, as they probably were, though, of course, we cannot 
know with certainty whether such changes suggested themselves to him or 
were suggested to him by others), we have indicated by notes. These notes 
are appended to the draft here found next above the draft in the handwriting 
of Adams, that is, to draft /^ (These notes show also, in some instances, 
the progress of changes made by Jefferson himself. ) 

*9 This was first written "sacred & undeniable" in Jefferson's ** Rough 
draught ". 

^0 Jefferson, in making his corrections, in his "Rough draught", wrote 
and then erased << equal [?] rights, some of which are". 

^^ This is *• inalienable" in Jefferson's *< Rough draught". 

52 This is "&" in Jefferson's " Rough draught". 

5^ Franklin substituted this word. 

^* This was first written *< subject them to arbitrary" in Jefferson's 
*« Rough draught ". 

65 These changes were made by John Adams, and, as readily seen, after 
he made the copy (^) of Jefferson's " Rough draught", which may indicate 
(but which, we think, does not necessarily prove) that it was submitted more 
than once to Adams (or, at least, that he saw it more than once) before a 
**fair copy" was submitted to the committee — that is, if a "fair copy" 
(and not the "Rough draught" itself) was submitted to the committee and 
if no corrections were made in the committee, as Jefferson states. 

5« There is no "as" in Jefferson's "Rough draught". 

57 There is no "an" in Jefferson's "Rough draught". 

58 These last three words are found interlined in Jefferson's ** Rough 
draught". 

5* In Jefferson's ** Rough draught", this is written over something which 
cannot be deciphered. 

*o This sentence was written (by Jefferson) upon a slip gf paper and at' 
tached to his "Rough draught" (See between pp. 144 and 145). Part of 
the slip has been torn away. It reads at present as follows : "he has called 
together legislative bodies at places unusual, unco :=• | the de- 

pository of their public records for the sole purpose of fatigu =^ | with 

his measures j ". 

*i This is evidently in Jefferson's handwriting. See note 80, post, 

®2 We are not sure that this conforms to the "Rough draught" as origi- 
nally drawn by Jefferson (though it seems likely) \ for the slip (See note 60, 
supra") leaves visible only *<ally for opposing" and *< eople: ". 

597 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

63 Jefferson first wrote In his "Rough draught": "he has dissolved". 
He crossed it out and started anew with "he has refused . . ." 

64 These three words were added by John Adams, and, of course, as 
readily seen, before he made the copy (draft g) of Jefferson's «* Rough 
draught". The word **time" as first written appears to have been erased 
(as well as «* space of") in that draft by accident j and Jefferson accordingly 
rewrote it before "after". 

63 These words were added by Franklin. 

66 For the progress of the addition of these words, see between pp. 
144 and 145. 

67 This sentence is very closely written, at the bottom of a page, in Jeffer- 
son's " Rough draught ". He himself, it would seem,^rj/ wrote " colonies ", 
as Congress amended it. 

68 These words were added by Franklin. He first wrote <* important" 
for ** valuable". 

69 The rest of the third page (that below the first fold) is missing — the 
sheet having been torn at this fold. 

'<> Here in Jefferson's ** Rough draught" now appear a **^" and, above 
the line, the words ** Scotch and other", seemingly in the same ink as the 
amendments by Congress which Jefferson indicated thereon, evidently on 
July 2d, 3d and 4th during the debates. We do not know what this indi- 
cates, unless it be some amendment proposed or intended to be proposed but 
either not proposed or not adopted. In this connection, see note 87, post. 

■^1 The portions between the vertical lines actually occur nearer the begin- 
ning, viz., at the << * ". They are placed here, in order that the amendments 
by Congress, other than the change of order, may be more readily noted. 

'2 This sentence is interlined in Jefferson's ** Rough draught". For the 
progress of its addition, see between pp. 144 and 145. 

'^ In Jefferson's ** Rough draught", this is written over something which 
cannot be deciphered. 

■^4 This is "allurements" in Jefferson's "Rough draught". 

''5 This is << rights" in Jefferson's "Rough draught". 

■^6 This clause occurs here in Jefferson's "Rough draught" also; but, 
afterward, he placed brackets around it and interlined it — changing "de- 
termined" to "determining" — where Adams gives it (and that is evi- 
dently why Adams did not copy it, but, after starting, erased " determined 
to"). The brackets, evidently after the Adams copy was made, were 
erased and the clause was erased where interlined. 

'7 See note 76, supra. 

'8 The *<an" is "this" in Jefferson's "Rough draught". 

'9 See note 76, supra. 

80 This would seem to be the only word in the Declaration on parchment in 

598 



NOTES TO APPENDIX 

the handwriting of Jefferson, and must have occurred to him as necessary after 
the engrossing. The syllable <«en" and the «*^" (Sec note 6i, suprd)y 
however, also seem to be in his handwriting. 

We do not know in whose handwriting is the rest of the Declaration on 
parchment. 

81 This was added by Franklin. 

82 This was first so written in Jefferson's ** Rough draught '* j but, after- 
ward, he erased the <«y" and made it "injuries". He does not, however, 
seem to have followed his own correction. 

88 In making his corrections, in his " Rough draught '", Jefferson first wrote 
«<lay". 

8^ There is no "the" in Jefferson's <« Rough draught". 

85 The rest, of course, of this page is missing : see note 69, supra. 

8® Of course, the **t" is in Jefferson's "Rough draught". 

87 We cannot understand why these brackets were placed here unless to 
indicate that the words enclosed were stricken out by Congress ; but why 
even then, when the whole sentence was stricken out ? Can it be that these 
words were stricken out first and that the remainder of the sentence was 
stricken out later? (There are no brackets in Jefferson's "Rough 
Draught".) See note 70, supra. 

88 These words were substituted by Franklin. 

89 This was first written "glory & happinefs'* in Jefferson's "Rough 
dra-ight ' ' . 

^^ In Jefferson's " Rough draught", ** climb " is erased and " must tread " 
interlined and " must " also erased. It seems as if, after making a correction, 
Jefferson failed to follow it. 

®i This was first written "in a separates in Jefferson's "Rough 

draught ' ' . 

®2 This was first written **pro" in Jefferson's *' Rough draught". 

®* This was first written "everlasting Adieus" in Jefferson's "Rough 
draught". 

^* There is no "the" in Jefferson's "Rough draught". 

*5 This is written over things. 

®^ This is written over something which cannot be deciphered. 

9' Lee wrote to Landon Carter at "[N] Sabine Hall in Richmond" on 
the 'very day he ansivered Jefferson s letter : " I congratulate my Friend on 
the Declaration he will find in this paper now sent[.] " 

No copy of the Declaration other than the one above referred to in Jeffer- 
son's handwriting has been found in The American Philosophical Society ; 
and F. W. Page, Librarian of the University of Virginia, writes us, under 

599 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

date of December 9, 1899 : ** Upon examination of the Lee Papers in this 
Library, I do not find any draft of the Declaration of Independence, nor any 
letter in reference thereto. Shortly before our great fire of Oct. 1895, one 
of our students made a Calendar of these Papers, by direction of our Professor 
of English Literature, with a view to having it printed. But the fire scattered 
the papers & perhaps destroyed some, and part of the Calendar was destroyed. 
This student is now in Japan, a Missionary. I think if there had been a 
draft of the D. of I. amongst the papers I would have heard of it. There 
is certainly none now, nor are any facts in regard to it disclosed in the 
papers." 

(Pickering — See note 50, chapter IV — evidently did not mean that the 
printed Declaration was with the original letter of Lee and the draft ** as 
originally framed " nvhen copied.^ 

®^ See, however, p. 144. 

^^ A facsimile may be found in Proceedings of The American Philosophi- 
cal Society, vol. 37. It is accompanied by an article by Dr. I. Minis 
Hays. 

100 He died in 1794. 

^°^ See, however, note 50, chapter VII, and p. 351. 

102 j^Q attention, of course, has been paid to these in the draft as found 
in the preceding pages ; and even the few lines (underscoring words) which 
we think are Jefferson's (See note 103, post) have been omitted. 

103 This word would naturally perhaps include the lines underscoring the 
words ; and John Vaughan, Librarian of the Society, evidently so understood 
it, for, in 1841 (at the age of 85), he writes (as shown by a copy preserved in 
the Society) to the Prince de Joinville : " on the suggestion of M"^ Jefferson, 
the Comparison was made by Richard Henry Lee & his Brother Arthur Lee, 
who drew a black line, upon the original draught proposed by the Committee, 
under every part rejected by Congress j & in the margin opposite, placed 
the Word Outr' 

We, however, believe that the line under "Christian", the line under 
*<he" in ** which he has deprived", the line under "he" in "whom he 
also obtruded ", the line under " liberties " in " the liberties of one people " 
and the line under " lives " in " against the lives of" are Jefferson's ; for they 
not only look like his lines but these words (and these only) are underscored 
in the Pickering copy (See note 50, chapter VII) of this draft made 
(originally) in 1805. 

10* It Is not quite clear from this language whether he means that fair 
copies were made repeatedly during the composition of the instrument itself 
(that is, previous to its submission to Franklin and Adams) or during the 
amendments by Congress. The latter, however, seems improbable (and, in 
feet, sec note 124, post) j and, indeed, the former would seem to be his mean- 

600 



NOTES TO APPENDIX 

ing. If so and the statement is true, other drafts preceded what is now known 
(See between pp. 144 and 145) as Jefferson's rough draft j but we know that 
no fair copy was made between the time when John Adams made his copy 
(See note 48, supra) and when the copy was made which was submitted to 
Congress. No such drafts have been preserved, however, nor is there any 
other mention of them ; and it will be remembered that Jefferson himself 
endorsed what is now known as the rough draft as follows : <«Independance 
Declaration of {original Rough draught". Indeed, the fact shown in note 
60, supra, would seem to pronje that he did not airways make a *' fair copy " 
** whenever ... a copy became overcharged"} and we know that, in 
1776, paper was quite expensive. 

'^^^ See note 104, supra. 

See note 24, chapter VI. 

See pp. 347, 348, 349, 350 and 351. 

106 This letter was evidently the result of a letter from Wallace, to Mrs. 
Randolph, dated Fauquier, Va., October 14th, which says : *< [S] ... it 
would appear that the patriotism of Richard Henry Lee was spurious, in- 
voluntary and freckled, being the fruit of sour disappointments from unsuc- 
cessful attempts to procure offices under the Crown, hence his sudden change 
from the King to the people, however popular, was nevertheless from want 
of political principle and not from pure countries good and love of political 
principle and Liberty . . . Being at the Lafayette dinner at Leesburg a toast 
was given which introduced a conversation anticipating the Biography of 
Richard Henry Lee, by his grandson : tis expected that nothing will be 
regarded if the fame of Lee can be raised : the old tale of his writing the 
declaration of Independence will be renewed ... I beg, if consistent, after 
the view I have taken, that a full and general statement may reach me in 
your fathers hand writing, that I may Keep it in readiness to defeat the ex- 
pected denunciations and pervertions of truth . . ." 

i*^"^ On the contrary, they are to be found in the Appendix to the first 
volume. 

1*8 These corrections were made very likely after a fair copy to send was 
made. 

i*>^ See Jefferson's letter to John Adams, note 4, chapter IV. 

110 Another portion of this letter may be found in note 50, chapter VII. 

111 Jefferson says (See pp. 144 and 345) that no change was made in 
committee, but that a fair copy was reported to them and (unchanged) by 
them to Congress. See also pp. 141 and 143. Of course, however, as we 
have seen, slight amendments were suggested by John Adams and Franklin j 
and, indeed, see note 55, supra. 

11'^ It will be noted that this language is not the same as that found in 
his letter of February 25, 1840. Indeed, he makes still different statements 

601 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

in Memoir, etc. Therein, he says (in the text) : ". . . enclosing the 
original draught, which he had drawn in the committe[e], and also a copy 
of the declaration as adopted by Congress" } and (In the Appendix, as a 
heading for a copy there given of the draft in The American Philosophical 
Society) : ** Copy of the letter written by Thomas Jefferson to Richard Henry 
Lee, Esq. enclosing the original draft of the Declaration of Independence, as 
first reported." 

113 See p. 349. 

11* See p. 350. 

115 See p. 351. 

116 See p. 349. 
1" See p. 350. 
118 See p. 351. 

^1® Pendleton's letter to Jefferson last before the loth (so far as his letters — 
formerly in the Department of State — now in the Library of Congress show) 
was dated August 3d, which would seem to prove at least that Pendleton 
received the copy of the Declaration after the jd. It was received evidently 
in Jefferson's letter of July Z9th of which Pendleton speaks ; and it was elicited, 
we think, by Pendleton's next previous letter, one of July 22d (See p. 148). 

120 Wythe does not mention any such draft, however, in his letter of July 
%j, 1776, to Jefferson, the only one (so far as his letters — formerly in the 
Department of State — now in the Library of Congress show) which Wythe 
wrote to Jefferson previous to Wythe's return (See p. 215) to Philadelphia, 
nor in his letter to Jefferson of November 11, 1776, from Philadelphia, the 
first after Wythe's return (as similarly shown). 

121 See note 7, chapter IV. 

122 We have been unable to locate this. 

128 This (See p. 351) was not what is commonly so called. 

Indeed, it is quite evident that the Richmond Enquirer is speaking of one 
draft J the Philadelphia Union of another ; and the Federal Republican of a 
third. 

12* This refers evidently to what is commonly so called 5 and the editor 
of the Philadelphia Union doubtless saw it at Jefferson's home, for Delaplaine, 
as we have seen, was shown it there in 181 6 and Jefferson, as late as 1825, as 
also we have seen, speaks of it as being *'now in my hands". 

In considering this criticism, it should be borne in mind that Jefferson 
indicated (See between pp. 144 and 145) on this "Rough draught" the 
amendments by Congress. 

125 If this is an accurate statement, we do not know how or when it came 
into the hands of the editor (See, however, note 50, chapter VII) or how or 
when it was returned to the Lees. It will be remembered that R. H. Lee, 
in Memoir, etc., (1825) writes that it "has been . . . carefully preserved 

602 



...VA 



NOTES TO APPENDIX 

by his family " and that, on August 9th of the same year, it was deposited 
in The American Philosophical Society. 

"« Perhaps this will account for the fact that the original letter (See note 
50, chapter VII) can no longer be found. 

127 This, of course, was not what is usually so termed. 

128 We have compared accurate copies of the drafts respectively in The 
American Philosophical Society, the New York Public Library (Lenox) 
and the Massachusetts Historical Society with this copy, in the hope of lo- 
cating the draft ** found among the literary reliques of the late venerable 
George Wythe'''' j but this was without avail, because of the failure of The 
Weekly Register to conform at all to Jefferson's peculiar spelling, capitaliza- 
tion, etc. 

129 See note 8, chapter X. 
"0 See p. 345. 

121 See p. 172. 

182 'phe Madison papers were purchased of Dorothy (Dolly) P. Madison, 
the widow of the President, for ^25,000 : see Act of Congress of May 31, 
3848. 

18^ See, however, various notes to the notes j p. 295. 

134 Taken from The Freeman's Journal: or^ the North- American Intelli- 
gencer (N) of January i, 1783. 

It is published as a letter from John Dickinson and headed : ** To my 
Opponents in the late Elections of Councillor for the County of Philadelphia, 
and of President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania." 

See notes 5 and 6, chapter VII. 

The speech of Dickinson (See p. 159), as gi'ven by Bancroft^ consists of 
parts of this "Vindication" changed into the present tense and linked to- 
gether as he saw fit. 

135 See note 7, chapter V $ note 20 and Schuyler and Lenjois Morris, 
note 39, chapter IX j and pp. 212 and 270. 



603 



Key 



Ke 



y 



A ' = Taken from the original manuscript in The American Philosophi- 
cal Society, in Philadelphia 
[or, when referring to a newspaper] 

a copy of which may be found in The American 
Philosophical Society, in Philadelphia 

Ad = ** " Familiar Letters of John Adams and his Wife 

Abigail Adams ^ during the Revolution by Charles 
Francis Adams 

Al = " '< the original manuscript in the New York State 
Library, in Albany 

Ann = a copy of which may be found in the State Library 

in Annapolis 

B = ** ** Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of 

Independence 

Ba = a copy of which may be found in the Maryland 

Historical Society, in Baltimore 

Bos = a copy of which may be found in the Boston 

Public Library 

BT = ** ** the transcript in the Bancroft papers in the New 
York Public Library (Lenox) 

C = a copy of which may be found in the Library of 

Congress 

Ch r= a copy of which may be found in the Charlestown 

Library Society, in Charleston 

(The extracts given were copied by Nela M. 
Davis) 

607 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Con = a copy of which may be found in the New Hampshire 

Historical Society, in Concord 

Cs = Taken from the original manuscript in the possession of John D. 

Crimmins of New York City 

D = " " Annals of the Congress of the United States 
Di _ ff cf Statutes at Large 

E = «« *' The Life and Times of John Dickinson by Charles 
J. Stille 

[See the Preface thereof] 

Ex = ** " the original in The Essex Institute, in Salem 

[or, when referring to a newspaper] 

a copy o^ which may be found in The Essex Insti- 
tute, in Salem 

G = <* " Rhode Island in the Continental Congress y etc., 
by William R. Staples 

GR = *' *' Life and Character of George Read, etc., by 
William Thompson Read 

Gz = " *' the original manuscript in the possession of Simon 

Gratz of Philadelphia 

H = " *' The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Qtc. 

Ha =i a copy of which may be found in the Connecticut 

Historical Society, in Hartford 

Hs = " *' Catalogue No. 738 (1895), compiled by Stan. V. 
Henkels 

I = <* " Life and Correspondence of James Iredell by Griffith 
I. Mc Ree 

J = " <« The Life and Works of John Adams by Charles 
Francis Adams 

(Also, all quotations preceding p. 7 not marked 
are from this) 

K = " " The Life of Thomas Jefferson by Henry S. Randall 

M = *' *' the Southern Literary Messenger (C) for May, 1837 
[It appears from this that the original manuscript 
was then in their possession] 
608 



KET 



M2 


= 




M8 


= 




M* 


= 




Md 


= 




Mn 


= 




Ms 








M^ = Taken from the Southern Literary Messenger (C) for July, 
1858 

[This says : ". . . the copies having been faith- 
fully compared with the originals in my posses- 
sion. C."] 

f* the Southern Literary Messenger (C) for October, 
1858 

' the Southern Literary Messenger (C) for November, 
1858 

< the Southern Literary Messenger (C) for December, 
1858 

* Archives of Maryland, edited by William Hand 
Browne 

^' the original manuscript in the possession of J. Pier- 
pont Morgan of New York City 

'* the original manuscript in the Massachusetts His- 
torical Society, in Boston 

[or, when referring to a newspaper] 

a copy of which may be found in the Massachusetts 
Historical Society, in Boston 

the copy, in the handwriting of Pickering, in the 
Pickering papers in the Massachusetts Historical 
Society, in Boston 

[These copies preserved by Pickering, in many 
instances, are original drafts] 
MsJ = ** " JefFerson*s "Account Book" in the Massachusetts 
Historical Society, in Boston 

[See note 24, chapter VI] 

" Memorial of Henry Wolcott, etc., by Samuel 
Wolcott (1881), a copy of which may be found 
in the State Library in Boston 

[or, when referring to a newspaper] 

a copy of which may be found in the State Library 

in Boston 

39 ^^9 



MsC = 



<t €< 



MsS = " 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

N = Taken from the original manuscript in the collection of Dr. 
Thomas Addis Emmet * of New York City now 
in the New York Public Library (Lenox) 
[or, when referring to a newspaper, etc.] 
a copy of which may be found in the New York 
Public Library (Lenox) 

NE = ** *' The New- England Historical and Genealogical 
Register (N), XXX, 309 

[It is given as a communication from Dr. John 
S. H. Fogg of South Boston] 

(The Fogg collection is now in the Maine 
Historical Society, in Portland.) 

NE* = " " The New-England Historical and Genealogical 
Register (N), XXX, 326 

[It is given as a communication from Jeremiah 
Colburn of Boston and is stated — with other 
letters — to be *' copied from the originals in my 
possession."] 

NM = ** *' the original manuscript in the collection of 
Theodore Bailey Myers of New York City 
now in the New York Public Library (Lenox) 

NC = " " The Colonial Records of North Carolina^ etc., 
edited by William A. Saunders 

NH = " ** Documents and Records relating to the State of 
New-Hampshire, etc., edited by Nathaniel Bouton 

NY = " " the original manuscript in the New York Histori- 
cal Society, in New York City 

O = " '* The Life of Elbridge Gerry hj ]^m^%^ , hM^im 
P = *« " the copy preserved by Jefferson, (formerly in the 

Department of State) now in the Library of 

Congress 

[These copies preserved by Jefferson here quoted 

are usually, and, except in one instance, perhaps 

* For a description of the " Emmet Collection " (as well as much other 
useful Information in regard to the Declaration of Independence), see Bulletin 
of the Nenv York Public Library y vol. i, p. 351. 

610 



fli£ 



KET 

always, mechanical duplicate-originals. The one 
instance is evidently a rough draft] 

Pa = Taken from Minutes of the Committee of Safety of the Province 
of Pennsylvania 

PD = " " the original manuscript in the collection of Ferdi- 
nand J. Dreer now in The Historical Society of 
Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia 

PE = " *' the original manuscript in the collection of Frank 
M. Etting now in The Historical Society of Penn- 
sylvania, in Philadelphia 

PH = " *' the original manuscript in The Historical Society 
of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia 
[or, when referring to a newspaper, etc.] 
a copy of which may be found in The Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia 

PHM = *' " the Diary of Christopher Marshall (original MS.) 

and furnished to the author by John W. Jordan, 
Librarian of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 
in Philadelphia 

PM = " '* the original manuscript in the M:Kean papers in 
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in Phil- 
adelphia 

PS = ** " the original manuscript in the collection of Rev. 

William B. Sprague now in The Historical Society 
of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia 

Q = ** ** Patrick Henry Life, Correspondence and Speeches 
by William Wirt Henry 

gy = ** "the original manuscript (formerly at Quincy) 
now at the Massachusetts Historical Society, in 
Boston 

QyC = ** *' the copy preserved by John Adams, (formerly at 
Quincy) now at the Massachusetts Historical 
Society, in Boston 

R = «« ** Memoir of the Life of Richard Henry Lee, etc., 
by Richard Henry Lee, his grandson 
6n 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



s = 



SA = 



Rid = Taken from the original manuscript in The Library Company of 
Philadelphia (Ridgeway Branch) 

[or, when referring to a newspaper] 
a copy of which may be found in The Library 
Company of Philadelphia (Ridgeway Branch) 
" the original manuscript (formerly in the Depart- 
ment of State) now in the Library of Congress 

[If a letter to Samuel Adams,] 

'* the original manuscript in the Samuel Adams papers 

in the New York Public Library (Lenox) 

[If a \tttQV from Samuel Adams,] 
** the copy, in the handwriting of Samuel Adams, in 

the Samuel Adams papers in the New York Public 

Library (Lenox) 

[These copies preserved by Samuel Adams are 

usually, and perhaps always, original drafts] 

" History of Philadelphia by J. Thomas Scharf and 
Thompson Westcott 

" the original manuscript in the American Antiquarian 
Society at Worcester 
[or, when referring to a newspaper] 

a copy of which may be found in the American 
Antiquarian Society at Worcester 

" the original manuscript in the possession of John 

Boyd Thacher of Albany 
" the original manuscript in the possession of George 

C. Thomas of Philadelphia 
*' Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, etc., by 

William B. Reed, his grandson 
" Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in the 

Olden Time 

** The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams by 

William V. Wells 
" The Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin by John 

Bigelow 

612 



Sh 



T = 



Tr = 



Ts = 



U = 



V = 



w = 



X = 



KET 

Y = Taken from The Writings of George Washington by Worthing- 
ton Chauncey Ford 

Z = " ** The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 
edited by Henry P. Johnston 

— — = Words in italics are interlined in the original 

= = What occupies this space cannot be deciphered 

^^ = The manuscript here is torn, worn, missing or repaired 

All quotations not marked (except : see ** J **, supra) are taken from 
American Archives by Peter Force. 

Paragraphs in the original have (almost) always been omitted, except 
where the extract is given in different type. 

The /in the original has usually been replaced by /. 

No attempt has been made, in giving headings and imprints, to follow 
the character of type found in the various broadsides. The design has 
been merely to give the relative size of letters in the individual words, 
bearing in mind, however, in general, the relative size of the individual 
words but limited always by the character of type used in the present 
volume. 

Most of the letters of John Adams of later years are not in his hand- 
writing. 



613 



Index 



Index 



" A. B .", letters of, 8, 73. 

Act declaring Colonists out of King's 
protection, 93. 

Acton, 390. 

Adams, Abigail (Mrs. John), letters 
of, 266, 349, 572; letters to, 38, 50, 
62, 105, 106, 166, 167, 191, 211, 223, 
368, 384, 388, 405, 406, 429, 434. 473' 
512, 526, 541, 550. 

Adams, Andrew, letters to, 537, 538. 

Adams, Elizabeth (Mrs. Samuel), let- 
ter of, 45. 

Adams, John, 4, 5, 6, 42, 61, 103, 105, 
106, 109, no, 113, 120, 122, 155, 157, 
161, 162, 164, 218, 290, 345, 363, 381, 
402, 423, 425, 432, 449, 451, 468, 482, 
485, 492, 495. 584, 58 S> 587. 597, 598; 
copy of Declaration in handwriting 
of, 348 ; extracts from Autobiography 
of, 34, 42, 43, 90, 99, 100, 106, no, 
120, 136, 141, 157, 363, 365, 384, 388, 
405, 433, 510; extract from debates 
of, 412; extracts from Diary of, 4, 
5, 6, 364, 365, 366, 383, 384, 494, 542, 
561 ; letters of, 9, 22, 23, 26, 27, 34, 
38, 50, 54, 62, 70, 95, 104, 105, 106, 
108, 118, I2T, 125, 128, 130, 142, 159, 
160, 166, 167, 180, 191, 205, 206, 209, 
211, 217, 221, 223, 242, 367, 368, 384, 
388, 393. 402, 405, 406, 410, 421, 424, 
429, 433. 434, 447, 466, 473, 494, 499, 
512, 516, 526, 541, 542, 550, 586; let- 
ters to, 24, 50, 52, 57, 58, 59, 69, 83, 
102, 124, 128, 130, 131, 161, 162, 193, 
206, 211, 266, 349, 397, 401, 405, 419 

6 



424, 429,466, 508, 515, 529, 533, 572; 
message of, 286. 

Adams, John Quincy, letters of, 289, 
585. 

Adams, Samuel, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 33, 42, 
44, 45, 99, 122, 135, 136, 143, 164, 19s, 
217, 219, 269, 407, 430, 431, 447, 451, 
492, 533, 535 ; letters of, 9, 46, 47, 
102, 124, 213, 222, 223 ; letters to, 
36, 41, 45, 50, 52, 124, 206, 211, 213, 
214, 223, 225, 389, 511. 

Aisquith, William, 272. 

Aitken, Robert, Journal of Congress 
printed by, 501 ; extracts from Waste 
Book of, 502, 505. 

Alexander, Abraham, 21, 377. 

Alexander, Adam, 21. 

Alexander, John McKnitte, 21, 22, 32, 

370. 373, 374, 375, 377- 
Alexander, Joseph McKnitte, 22, 24, 

26,372,373,374,375, 376. 
Alexander, Robert, 37, 436, 437, 438,. 

439, 530, 576 ; letters of, 68, 436, 530; 

letter to, 439. 
Alford, 390. 
Alfred, ship, 260. 

Allen, Andrew, 37, 61, 64, 191, 526, 527. 
Allen, ordinary of, 74. 
Allen, William, 254. 
Aliens, the, 91. 
Alsop, John, 7, 140, 165, t8i, 183, 412, 

514, 518, 524; letters of, 184, 185, 525. 
Amherst, 270. 
Anderson, Thomas, 18. 
Annable, Thomas, 391. 
Anne Arundel County, 442, 443. 
Archer, 15. 

17 



INDEX 



Armitage, B., tavern of, 554. 

Arnold's Hall, 259. 

Ashley, Samuel, 133. 

Ashly, 390. 

Augusta County, 395. 

Austin, Benjamin, 269. 

Avery, John, 570 ; letter of, 570. 

Aylett, William, 76; letter of, 73. 



B 



Bailey, Jacob, Rev., 572. 

Baker, Binna, 391. 

Baltimore, 271. 

Barber, William, 559. 

Barge, 462. 

Barnstable, 390. 

Barralet, 445. 

Bartlett, Josiah, 37, 164, 221, 3S9, 412, 
535; letters of, 62,, 91, 132, 133, ^19, 
21 5» 225, 367, 444, 526, 536, 541 ; let- 
ters to, 134, 387, 391, 444. 536. 

Barton, Joseph, letter of, 221. 

Bassett, Nathan, 391. 

Bayard, John ( ? ), 9. 

Beach, Mrs., 563. 

Bears, Isaac, tavern of, 4. 

Bedford, 128. 

Bedford, Mass., 390. 

Bell in " Independence Hall ", 180. 

Bell, Robert, 407. 

Benson, Robert, 490. 

Bentley, William, letters to, 23, 27. 

Berks County, 241. 

Biddle, Charles, extract from Auto- 
biography of, 555. 

Biddle, Edward, 6, 526, 528. 

Biddle, James, 550, 552, 553. 

Biddle, Owen, 550, 552, 553. 

Bigelow, Daniel, 473. 

Binns, John, announcement of, 584. 

Blanchard, Jonathan, 133. 

Bland, Richard, 6, 72, 76, 384. 

Bloomfield, Jarvis ( .-* ), 559. 

Boerum, Simon, 7, 514, 516. 

Boston, 263, 389, 572. 

Bowdoin, James, 4, 9, 263, 266, 269, 
409 ; letter of, 36. 

Bowie, Allen, 440. 

6 



Boyd, John, 272. 

Brackett, Joshua, letter to, 221. 

Bradford & Cist & Co., 502. 

Bradford, William and Thomas, Jour- 
nal of Congress printed by, 506. 

Brasher, Abraham, 186. 

Braxton, Carter, 37, 96, 149, 164, 213, 
218, 219, 426, 456, 464, 465, 515, 540. 

Brevard, Adam, 380. 

Brevard, Ephriam, 30, 371, 381. 

Bridgetown (Bridgeton), 246. 

Briscoe, Gerard, 440. 

Brownson, Nathan, 216. 

Brunswick, 390. 

Buckingham County, 74. 

Bucks County, 241, 550. 

Bull, John, 190, 192. 

Bullock, Archibald, 37, 280, 382, 383, 
404, 405, 412, 510; letters of, 405, 
511 ; letters to, 160, 405, 511, 512. 

Bunch of Grapes Tavern, 266. 

Burgess, Edward, 440. 

Burgoyne, General, letter to, 19. 

Burke, Thomas, 402. 

Byrne, 456. 



Cadwalader, John, 552, 553. 

Caldwell, James, Parson, 226, 245, 559. 

Camden, Lord, 369. 

" Camillus ", extracts from, 15, 16. 

Campbell, William, 474. 

Cannon, James, 192. 

Cardiff, Lord, 235. 

Carlisle, Earl of, 235. 

Carroll, Charles, 271, 272 ; letter to, 60. 

Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, 128, 
130, 209, 272, 290, 431, 529, 535, 575, 
584, 587 ; extract from Joiir?ial of, 
439 ; letters -of, 18, 587 ; letters to, 
412,439. 

Carson, Adam, 474. 

Carter, Landon, letter of, 75; letters 
to, 93, 408, 599. 

Carter, Robert, 95 ; letter to, 540. 

Gary, Archibald, -](>, 'jZ. 

Castle, 264. 
18 



INDEX 



Caswell, Richard, 7, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 

28, 384. 
Cavendish, John, Lord, 236. 
Chadbourn, Benjamin, 269. 
Chandler, Zachariah, letter of, 292; 

letter to, 290. 
Charles County, 442. 
Charleston, 276. 
Charlotte County, 73. 
Charlton, Jasper, letter of, 229. 
Chase, Samuel, 6, 44, 97, 103, 104, 128, 

129, 201, 218, 219, 272, 412, 431, 436, 

437, 439, 510, 511, 529; letters of, 

69, 128, 130, 131, 213, 529, 530, 533; 

letters to, 125, 128, 130, 160, 205, 

242, 412, 439. 
Chauncey, Charles, Rev., 572. 
Cheetham, James, letter to, 406. 
Chester County, 241, 550. 
Chew, William, 32. 
Christ Church, 447, 557. 
Christie, Robert, Jr., 272, 574. 
Church, Benjamin, Dr., 387 ; letters of, 

9,34. 
Clagett, Wyseman, 133. 
Clare, Lord, 253. 
Clark, Abraham, 57, 124, 164, 219, 545 ; 

letters of, 169, 226,498, 545; letter 

to, 559- 
Clark, Francis, 474. 
Clark, John, 474. 
Clark, Thomas, 474. 
Clarke, 455. 
Clinton, George, 37, 140, 165, 185, 514, 

520; letters of, 185, 520. 
Clitherall, James, Dr., extract from, 

492. 
Clymer, George, 61, 64, 66, 192, 194, 

200, 299, 302, 305, 493, ssc 552, 553. 
Cocks, tavern of ( ? ), 4. 
Colutnbtis, ship, 260. 
Commissioners, 96. 
Common Sense, 90, 388, 427, 451. 
Connecticut, 14, 56, 256. 
Conway, General, 236. 
Cooke, Nicholas, 240, 260, 261 ; letters 

of, 55, 258, 259; letters to, 56, 391, 

535- 
Goolidge, Joseph, Jr., letter to, 155. 



Cooper, John, 57, 123, 124, 392. 
Cooper, Samuel, Dr., 349, 409 ; letters 

of, 50, 223, 389 ; letters to, 46, 47. 
Coor, James, 274. 
Corby, 564. 
Costin, Isaac, 443. 
Cox, James, 272. 
Cox, tavern of, 564. 
Coxe, William, 527. 
Crafts, Thomas, 264, 265, 266. 
Cramphin, Thomas, Jr., 440. 
Crane, Stephen, 6, 383, 392. 
Crawford, James, 189. 
Crespigny, Claude, letter to, 233. 
Crocker, John, Jr., 391. 
Crowley, John, 82. 
Cumberland County, N. C, 275. 
Cumberland County, Pa., 66. 
Cushing, Caleb, 269. 
Gushing, Joseph, 269. 
Cushing, Thomas, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 51, 269, 

388, 417. 
Cutts, Mrs., 287. 
Cutts, Samuel, 133, 368. 



Dallas, Alexander J., letter to, 299. 
Dalton, Tristram, 573 ; letter of, 224. 
Darling, Elias, 567. 
Dartmouth, Lord, letter to, 387. 
Davidson, William, letter to, 375. 
Davis, James, 391. 
Day, tavern of (.''), 4. 
Dayton, Elias, letter of, 559 ; letters to, 

169, 226. 
Deane, Silas, 4, 6, 239 ; letters of, 239, 

413. 493, 547, 548. 
Declaration of Independence, adop- 
tion of, 170; as copied by Jefferson 
from his notes and sent to Madison 
in 1783, 352; authenticated copy of, ^ 
284; broadsides of, 476, 477, 490, 
551, 553, 559. 560, 566, 568, 569, 571, 
573 ; draft of, in The American Phil- 
osophical Society, 306, 344; draft 
of, in the Massachusetts Historical 
Society, 306, 348; draft of, in the 
New York Public Library (Lenox), 

19 



INDEX 



306, 347 ; draft of, sent to Mazzei, 
351 ; draft of, sent to Richard Henry 
Lee, 306, 344, 463; draft of, sent 
to Page ( ?), 351 ; draft of, sent to 
Pendleton, 349 ; draft of, sent to 
Wythe, T^y:>', facsimile of, 289, 584; 
in corrected Journal, 306; in hand- 
writing of John Adams, 306, 348 ; in 
Jefferson's notes^ 172, 203 ; in news- 
papers, etc., 232, 233, 550, 560, 561, 
567, 569, 574, 576; in /r/«/(?^ Journal, 
500; in rough Journal, 170; on 
parchment, 284, 306. 

De Hart, John, 6, 57, 58, 392. 

Delaware, 15, 125, 163, 166, 250, 436. 

Delaplaine, Joseph, letter of, 449; 
letter to, 449. 

Derby, Earl of, 235. 

Derby, Richard, Jr., 269, 570. 

Desk upon which Jefferson wrote the 
Declaration, 154. 

Dewees, William, 555. 

De Witt, Adam, 474. 

Dickinson, John, 7, 25, 38, 44, 66, no, 
III, 117, 136, 157, 158, 164, 166, 191, 
193, 199, 200, 205, 226, 300, 302, 303, 
304, 392, 395, 425, 447, 466, 467, 468, 
469. 507, 515. 516, 527, 556; letters 
of, 423, 467 ; letter to, 468 ; " Vindi- 
cation" of, 353. 

Digges, Dudley, 76. 

Donaldson, Alexander, 474. 

Dorchester Neck, 264. 

Dover, 250. 

Drayton, William Henry, 89, 403, 404. 

Duane, James, 6, 44, 103, 106, 136, 159, 
181, 226, 411, 412, 501, 514, 523; let- 
ters of, 97, 181, 412, 523; letter to, 

513- 
Duche, Jacob, Rev,, 495 ; letter of, 229. 
Dudley, John, 133. 
Duffield, George, Rev., 62. 
Dumas, Charles W. F., letters to, 33, 

493- 

Dunham, Jacob, Dr., 244. 

Dunlap, John, 476; broadsides of Dec- 
laration printed by, 476, 551, 553, 559. 

Dwight, Timothy, extract from, 366. 

Dyer, Eliphalet, 6, 257, 509. 

6 



East Greenwich, 259. 
Eastham, 390. 
Easton, 243. 
East Windsor, 258. 
Eaton, Thomas, 274. 
Edwards, John, 278. 
Edwards, Timothy, letter to, 537. 
EUery, William, 54, 164, 412, 497 ; let- 
ters of, 535, 557. 
Elliott, Barnard, 277, 580. 
Ellsworth, Henry L., letter to, 29a 
Elmer, Ebenezer, 245, 558. 
Elmer, Jonathan, Dr., address of, 246. 
Eppes, Francis, letter to, 452. 
Eustace, 431. 



Fauconberg, Earl, 235. 

Fesenton, 45. 

Fish, Hamilton, letter of, 290 ; letter 
to, 292. 

Fisher, Jabez, 269. 

Fitchburg, 390. 

Flagg, Benjamin, 262. 

Fleming, William, 76; letters of, 147, 
464 ; letter to, 464. 

Floyd, William, 6, 140, 165, 207, 494, 
514, 519; letters of, 183, 184, 185. 

Folesome, Ebenezer, 275. 

Folsom, Nathaniel, 5, 6, 133 ; letter of, 
134; letters to, 132, 444. 

Fooks, Paul, 554. 

Fort Antes, 473. 

Fort Daniel, 259. 

Fort Hill, 264. 

Fort Horn, 473. 

Fort Washington, 254, 564. 

Fox, 455. 

Fox, Charles James, 237. 

France, 238, 239, 413. 

Frankford, 5, 9. 

Franklin, Benjamin, Dr., 36, 81, 120, 
122, 128, 143. 144, 145, 155, 164, 178, 
192, 209, 218, 219, 300, 303, 345, 348, 
349, 368, 369, 382, 407, 412, 425, 435, 
439» 447» 449. 45i> 493. 526, 597. 598i 



20 



INDEX 



599; letters of, 17, 33, 38, 207, 408, 

409, 412, 448, 549. 
Franklin, William, Gov., 129; letter 

of, 387. 
Frederic County, Lower District ( ? ), 

130. 
Frederic County, Middle District, 271. 
Frederic County, Upper District, 442. 
Fry, Richard, 259. 



Gadsden, Christopher, 6, 12, 44, 54, 88, 

403, 509, 510, 580. 
Gage, Lady, 564. 
Gageborough, 390. 
Gaine, Hugh, broadside of Declaration 

printed by, 566. 
Galbraith, Bartram, letter to, 243. 
Galloway, Joseph, 6, 195, 196, 201, 203, 

385, 527 ; extract from, 363. 
Gardner, William P., letters to, 162, 

445, 546. 
Gates, Horatio, 261 ; letters to, 95, 98, 

104, 211,471,499, 529, 562. 
Georgia, 90, 279, 363, 382. 
Germaine, George, Lord, letter to, 255. 
Gerry, Elbridge, 42,48, 164, 207, 211, 

388, 389, 492 ; letters of, 44, 6^, 75. 

107, 123, 138, 205, 211, 220, 389, 470; 

letters to, 49, 50, 53, 224. 
Gettys, Mrs., 494. 
Giles, Benjamin, 133. 
Gill, John, broadside (broadsides ?) of 

Declaration printed Ijy, 571. 
Gill, Moses, 269. 

Gilmer, George, Dr., 456, 457, 465. 
Goddard, Mary Katharine, 395 ; au- 
thenticated copy of Declaration 

printed by, 581. 
Goldsborough, Robert, 6, 128, 129, 272, 

385, 412, 438, 439, 576. 
Gordon, William, letter of, 14. 
Graff, Jacob, Jr., 149, 454, 455, 460. 
Graff, Mrs., 455, 456. 
Grafton, Duke of, 235. 
Granby, Marquis of, 236. 
Grant, U. S., letter of, 291. 
Gratz, Hyman, 151, 152, 458, 459. 

62 



Gratz, Simon, 151, 152, 458, 459, 461. : 
Gray, George, 550, 553. 
Gray, Isaac, 63. 
Graydon, Alexander, 254. 
Greene, Nathanael, letters of, 35, 53. 
Greene, Zachariah, 252, 562. 
Greenleaf, Jonathan, 573. 
Greenleaf, Joseph, letter to, 570. 
Greenleaf, Simon, letter of, 573. 
Greentree, 455. 
Greenwich, 390. 
Griffith, Charles G, 440. 
Griswold, Matthew, letter to, 211. 
Gurney, F. [}), 426. 
Gurney, Mrs., 426. 

Gwinnett, Button, 164, 215, 219, 281, 
404, 405, 412, 512, 535. 

H 

Habersham ( ? ), Messrs., 511. 

Hacker's Hall, 260. 

Halifax, N. C, 274. 

Halifax, N. S., 232. 

Hall, John, 36, 385. 

Hall, Lyman, 36, 164, 216, 218, 281, 

383, 404, 405, 412, 512; letter of, 
216. 

Hamilton, Alexander, 474. 

Hamilton, William, 65. 

Hancock, Dorothy (Mrs. John), letter 

to, 49. 
Hancock, John, 9, t,^, 37, 42, 99, no, 

122, 135, 164, 192, 208, 209, 230, 238, 

261, 280, 292, 386, 445, 447, 463, 476, 
494, 495, 533, 547; letters of, 137, 
240, 420, 559; letters to, 211, 216, 

262, 270, 273, 491, 498, 567. 
Hands, Thomas B., letter of, 127. 
Hanover, 390. 

Hanover County, 18. 

Hanson, John, Jr., 271. 

Harnett, Cornelius, 274, 275, 402. 

Harrison, Benjamin, 5, 6, 36, 39, 99, 
104, no, 117, 121, 122, 136, 149, 156, 
164, 165, 169, 170, 213, 218, 219, 229, 

384, 417, 452, 464, 465, 476, 536, 537,- 
letter of, 453. 

Hart, John, 57, 124, 164, 226. 



INDEX 



Harvie, R., 455. 

Haslet, John, 250 ; letter to, 559. 

Hawley, Joseph, 220 ; letters of, 49, 50, 

52, 53, 224; letter to, 46. 
Hayward, William, 395; letter of, 127. 
Hazard, Ebenezer, letters of, 471, 562. 
Henderson, Samuel, certificate of, 373. 
Henry, Patrick, 3, 6, 11, 18, 25, 76, 77, 

182, 383, 384, 397, 399, 419, 420, 576; 

letters of, 397, 401 ; letters to, 108, 

214, 396, 418, 576. 
Herring, John, 7. 
Hewes, Joseph, 7, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 84, 

118, 139, 164, 403, 498; letters of, 31, 

81, 85, 139, 217, 403, 428, 510, 513, 

53i> 552. 

Heyward, Thomas, Jr., 164, 217, 218, 
403, 510; letters of, 276, 542. 

Hichborn, Benjamin, letter of, 52 ; let- 
ter to, 393. 

Hill, Whitmill, 274. 

Hillegas, Michael, 553. 

Hiltzheimer, Jacob, 456 (?), 459, 460; 
extracts from the private diary (manu- 
script) of, 462. 

Hind, Rev. Dr., letter to, 565. 

Hinkle, Jacob, 472. 

Hire, tavern of, 5. 

Hobart, John Sloss, 186. 

Holsten, river, 395. 

Holt, John, broadside of Declaration 
printed by, 491, 560. 

Holten, Samuel, 269, 

Hooper, William, 7, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 
28, 81, 83, 84, 219, 402, 403, 412, 513, 
531 ; letters of, 8, 80, 83, 217, 524. 

Hope Furnace, 260. 

Hopkins, Esek, loi, 268. 

Hopkins, Daniel, 269. 

Hopkins, John, 554, 555. 

Hopkins, Stephen, 6, 54, 164, 209, 218, 
2i9> 389^ 410, 43i> 535; letters of, 56, 
391, 535 ; letter to, 55. 

Hopkinson, Francis, 124, 125, 158, 164, 
219, 434; letter of, 543. 

Horn, Samuel, 475. 

Hosmer, Titus, 257, 385, 539. 

House where Declaration was written, 



149. 



Houston, John, 37, 383, 404, 405, 412, 

510, 512; letter to, 511. 
Howe, 93. 

Howe, General, 561. 
Howe, Lord, letter to, 17. 
Howell, Samuel, 61, 550, 552, 553. 
Howland, Job, 391. 
Howland, Nath., 391. 
Howland, Zaccheus, 391. 
Hull, tavern of, 4. 
Humphreys, Charles, 6, 164, 194, 200, 

300, 302, 303. 
Hungary, 239. 
Hunter, Humphrey, Rev., extract from, 

374- 
Huntington, 255. 

Huntington, Samuel, 37, 164, 219. 
Hurd, John, 133. 
Hutton, 236. 



I 



Inglis, Charles, Rev., 566; letter of, 

565- 
Ingram, Job, 443. 
Iredell, James, letters to, 8, 80, 84, 139, 

215, 229, 403; extract from, 85. 
Ireland, 239. 
Italy, 239. 
Izard, Ralph, letter of, 233. 



Jack, James, 22, 28, 31. 

Jackson, John, 474. 

James City, tz- 

Jay, John, 6, 104, 159, 181, 182, 183, 
184, 186, 226, 412, 488, 514, 518, 522 ; 
letters of, 367, S^3,S^A, S^S, S^9y 520, 
522, 523; letters to, 116, 139, 181, 
411,412,514,521,522,523, 548. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 11, 37, 120, 121, 
122, 141, 142, 146, 151, 155, 164, 178, 
207, 213, 218, 219, 285, 290, 344, 346, 
347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 384, 389, 
414, 420, 429, 430, 447, 448, 449, 450, 
458, 475, 476, 482, 485, 584, 585, 587, 
600 ; desk of, 154 ; extracts from " Ac- 
count Book " of, 156, 165, 169, 454; 



622 



INDEX 



extracts from Autobiography ot^ Title 
Page, 38, 422 ; letters from, 18, 19, 
24, 2,2^ 143, 149, 150, 155, 162, 163, 
166, 178, 196, 214, 344, 345, 346, 352, 
363, 412, 419, 424, 431, 445, 449, 451, 
452,456, 464, 466, 508, 515, 531, 540, 
546, 591, 593, 596 ; letters to, 22, 26, 
72, 147, 148, 149, 150, 195, 200, 214, 
215, 224, 344, 350, 386, 424, 449, 452, 
464, 466, 494, 509, 516, 576, 585, 596; 
notes of, 204, 295, 422 ; note of, to 
letter to Mease, 151 ; note of, to let- 
ter to Wells, 203; reported state- 
ments of, no, 162. 

Jenifer, Daniel, of St. Thomas, 271, 
395 ; letters of, 60, 127 ; letter to, 69. 

Jenkins, Joseph, 391. 

Johnson, Thomas, Jr., 6, 44, 69, 104, 
128, 129, 412, 436, 437, 438, 439, 515, 
516, 530, 575. 576; letter of, 438. 

Johnston, Samuel, 84, 403 ; letter of, 
84 ; letters to, 31, 81, 83, 85, 139, 428, 
510, 513, 531. 

Johnstone, George, Gov., 237. 

Joinville, de, Prince, letter to, 600. 

Jones, Allen, 402. 

Jones, Noble Wimberley, 383, 404. 

Jones, Thomas, 274, 403 ; letter of, 215. 

Jones, Willie, 274. 

Journal of Paris, editor of, letter to, 
163, 591, 593- 

Journal, rotigh, extracts from, 109, no, 
117, 120, 155, 156, 165, 169, 170, 208; 
broadside of Declaration wafered 
into, 170. 

Journal, corrected, extracts from, 414, 
534 ; Declaration in, 306. 

Journal, secret domestic, extract from, 
204. 

K 

Kenedy, Joseph, Dr., 30. 
Kennon, William, 28. 
Kent, Benjamin, letter of, 225. 
Kinchin, John, 402. 
Kingsbridge, 254. 
Kinsey, James, 6, 392. 
Kuhl, Mark, 61. 
Kuhn, Michael, 550. 



La Fayette, de, Marquis, 239, 289, 345. 

Lancaster County, 241, 243, 550. 

Langdon, John, 36, 210, 270, 412; let- 
ters of, 387, 444 ; letters to, 63, 91, 
133, 221, 225, 367, 444, 526, 536, 541. 

Laurens, Henry, 88, 403, 404 ; extract 
from, 578 ; letters of, 404, 579. 

Laurens, John, letter to, 579. 

Lebanon, 258, 

Lee, Arthur, 344, 347, 600 ; letters to, 

8,9. 

Lee, Charles, 429, 482 ; letter of, 484. 

Lee, Charles, Gen., 95, 261,406,465; 
letters of, 19, 20, 70, 71, 72, 396, 418 ; 
letters to, 225, 408, 443. 

Lee, Francis Lightfoot, 37, 164, 178, 
346, 384; letters of, 93, 213, 408. 

Lee, Henry, letters of, 483, 484; let- 
ter to, 483. 

Lee, John, letter of, 72. 

Lee, Ludwell, 346. 

Lee, Richard, 76, 402, 540. 

Lee, Richard Bland, letter to, 384. 

Lee, Richard Henry, 5, 6, 11, 44, 99, 
104, 105, 106, 109, no, 113, 116, 121, 
122, 136, 212, 344, 345, 346, 347, 350, 
35 1 » 365. Z^^> 384, 389, 414, 416, 421, 
423, 425, 429, 430, 431, 447, 600, 601 ; 
draft of Declaration sent to, 306, 344, 
463; letters of, 213, 214, 344, 417, 
418, 431, 576, 599; letters to, 71, 72, 
73, 77, 84, 124, 178, 213, 222, 397, 
401, 402, 418, 527, 539, 540. 

Lee, Richard Henry, grandson, letters 
of, 346, 480, 481 ; letters to, 346, 421 ; 
statement of, 346. 

Lee, Thomas Ludwell, 76; letters of, 
84, 401, 539. 

Lee, William, letter of, 234. 

Leverett, 390. 

Levy, Benjamin, 272. 

Lewis, Andrew, 80 ; letter of, 540. 

Lewis, Francis, 37, 140, 165, 181, 183, 
207, 412, 514, 518, 519, 521, 524; let- 
ters of, 183, 184, 185, 519. 

Lewistown, 443. 

Lincoln, Benjamin, 269. 



$23 



INDEX 



Lindsey, tavern of, 261. 

Lippitt, Christopher, 258. 

Litchfield, 562. 

Little John, Rev. Dr., 288. 

Livingston, Philip, 6, 165, 183, 184, 207, 
507, 514, 518 ; letter of, 525. 

Livingston, Robert R., 37, iii, 117, 
120, 122, 144, 181, 200, 412, 417, 426, 
429, 462, 514 ; letters of, 183, 184, 41 1, 
514, 522 ; letters to, 97, 514, 520, 522, 

523, 524. 
Livingston, William, 6, 57, 58, 102, 159, 

226, 392, 432, 433, 434, 447. 
Logan, Deborah, Mrs., 555, 556. 
London, 546. 
Long, Pierce, 368. 
Lothrop, Eben., 391. 
Love, Robert, 474. 
Lovemore, Mrs., 456. 
Low, Isaac, 6. 
Lowell, John, letter to, 429. 
Lowndes, Rawlins, 278. 
Luttrell, Temple, The Honorable, 237. 
Lux, William, 574. 
Lyman, Samuel, letters to, 408, 411. 
Lynch, Thomas, Jr., 164, 219 {>), 403, 

404, 512, 580 (?) ; letter of, 276. 
Lynch, Thomas, Sr., 5, 6, 36, 164, 219 ( ? ), 

403,404, 492, 509, 512, 515, 580 (?) ; 

letter of, 276. 

M 

Mackenzie, Captain, letter to, 8. 

Madison, Dorothy P. (Dolly) (Mrs. 
James), 286. 

Madison, James, 76, 289 ; copy of Jeffer- 
son's notes sent to, 352 ; letters of, 
420, 424 ; letters to, 143, 352, 531, 583. 

Magaw, Robert, 254. 

Magruder, Samuel W., 440. 

Magruder, Zadock, 440. 

Maiden, 390. 

Manning, 578. 

Marshall, Christopher, extracts from 
Diary of, 61, 62, 64, 156, 165, 168, 
169, 241, 393, 394, 471, 49i» 493. 507, 
509. 534. 

Martin, Josiah, Gov., 377; proclama- 
tion of, 378. 



Marvin, Mrs., 563. 

Marvin, Ruth, 563. 

Maryland, 17, 67, 125, 240, 271, 411 ; Con- 
vention of, letter to, 530 ; Council of 
Safety of, letters of, 68, 126, 127, 439, 
575, letters to, 125, 126,436,438,529. 

Mason, George, 76, 147, 419, 452. 

Massachusetts, 8, 14, 42, 134, 240, 262. 

Mather, Samuel, Rev., 570. 

Matlack, Timothy, 189, 190, 492. 

Mazzei, Philip, draft of Declaration 
sent to, 351 ; letter to, 549. 

McClurg, Dr., 465. 

M'Corkle, William, & Son, letter to, 

303- 

McCracken, Henry, 474. 

McElhattan, 473. 

McHugh, Mathew, 258. 

Mcintosh, Lachlan, 280 ; letter to, 579. 

M'Kay, Captain, 232. 

M:Kean, Thomas, 5, 6, 61, 6% (>(>, 125, 
129, 164, 188, 190, 210, 250, 351, 410, 
425, 440, 492, 496, 506, 507, 582 ; let- 
ters of, 193, 299, 301, 303, 425, 506; 
letters to, 424, 426, 466, 496, 497. 

McKesson, John, letter to, 517. 

Mease, James, 553. 

Mease, James, Dr., 551 ; letters of, 149, 
150; letters to, 149, 150. 

Mechanics in Union, 182. 

Mecom, Jane, Mrs., letter to, 207. 

" Mecklenburg Declaration ", 20. 

Merumsco Dams, 443. 

Michmac Indians, 262. 

Middleton, Arthur, 164, 219, 403, 493, 
509 ; letter of, 276. 

Middleton, Henry, 6, 366, 386, 403, 509, 
510. 

Mifflin, Thomas, 5, 6, 9, 385 ; letter of, 
211. 

Miles, Samuel, 550. 

Miquelon, 549. 

Monroe, James, letter of, 583; report 
of, 584. 

Montresor, James, extract from, 563. 

Moore, James, 189. 

Moore, tavern of, 564. 

Moravian Congregation, extract from 
Diary of, 565. 



624 



INDEX 



Morris, ColonZ 
Morris:Lewr^7,2i2, 514, 520; 

letter of. > ^ ^^ 
Morris K^^' '^4, 166, 191, 192, 

191 'iQ.' 2^4> 395. 426, 493> 527 ; 

Jetter?^^' ^^7, 499; letters to, 
^26, , _ 
Morri/^^^^' Jr., 550. 
Morri'"^"^^' ^^'' 553- 
ViVfortf^^^"' ^' ^^4, 189, 192, 219, 300, 
■' 30:^3.526. 
Mot^aac, 278. 
jVTy,, Archibald Debow, letter to, 

M'^y> 445- 
JVrayfield, 390. 

N 

.'Jantasket, 264. 

Nash, Abner, 402. 

Natick, 390. 

Neilson, John, 245. 

Nelson, Thomas, Jr., 37, 76, 80, 146, 

164, 182, 384, 386, 399, 401, 511, 540; 

letters of, 3S6, 401, 509; letter to, 

456- 
Neufville, John, 278, 
Neville, Richard Aldworth Griffin-, 236. 
New Brunswick, 244. 
Newburyport, 269. 

New Hampshire, 13, 41, 132, 240, 270. 
New Jersey, 8, 57, 123, 240, 244, 436. 
Newport, 258. 
New Salem, 390. 
New York, 14, 163, 181, 240, 251, 427 ; 

Convention of, letter of, 491, letter 

to, 525. 
New York City, 252, 255. 
Nicholas, Robert Carter, 72, 76, 395, 

400. 
Nichols, Hugh, 474. 
Nicholson, John, letter to, 499. 
" Nine-Partners ", 256. 
Nixon, John, 550, 552, 553, 554, 557. 
Norris, Isaac, 487. 
Norris mansion, 555. 
North Carolina, 20, 80, 90, 274, 400; 
40 



Committee of Safety of, letter to, 

217. 
North Church, 572. 
North, Lord, 234. 
Northampton County, 241. 
Northbridge, 390. 
Norwich, 390. 
A^oUs of Jefferson, 295. 



Orme, Archibald, 440. 

Orne, Joshua ( ? ), 107. 

Osborne, Lord, 235. 

Oswald, 578. 

Otis, James, 143, 144, 447. 

Otis, George Alexander, letters to, 

3^7, 424- 
Otis, Joseph, 391. 
Owen, Robert, 440. 



Paca, William, 6, 127, 128, 130, 161, 
164, 272, 412, 436, 437, 438, 439, 529, 

530, 575- 
Page, John, 76, 215; draft of Declara- 
tion sent to ( ? ), 347, 348, 351 ; letters 
of, 72, 224, 273, 443; letters to, 214, 
401, 412, 540. 

Paine, Robert Treat, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 42, 
164, 196, 201, 207, 217, 21S, 494. . 

Paine, Thomas, 23, 90, 406, 408, 450. 

Palfray, William, letter of, 41. 

Palmer, 390. 

Palmer, John, 507. 

Palmer, Joseph, letter to, 107. 

Palmer, Polly, letter to, 221. 

Pardie, Alexander, letters to, 8, 73. 

Parker, Freeman, 391. 

Parker, Joseph, 550, 552, 553. 

Patterson, Edgar, 287. 

Peale, Charles Willson, 434. 

Pearson, Isaac, 64, 66. 

Pelletreau, Elias, 263. 

Pemberton, 434. 

Pendleton, Edmund, 3, 6, 72, 76, 99, 
123, 383, 384. 399, 402; draft of 
Declaration sent to, 347, 348, 349; 

625 



INBEy^ 



letters of, 148, 215, 350, 452, 466, 

576. 
Penn, John, 25, 37, 82, 83, 84, 164, 402, 

412, 531 ; letters of, 82, 83, 139, 217, 

542 ; letter to, 402. 
Penn, John, 492. 
Penns, the, 91. 
Pennsylvania, 15, 60, 163, 166, 187, 

240, 241. 
Percy (Piercy?), William, Rev., 277, 

580. 
Perry, Rev. Dr., 258. 
Person, Thomas, 274, 403 ; letter to, 

82. 
Pettit, Charles; letter to, 103. 
Philadelphia, 240, 241, 282. 
Phillips, William, 269. 
" Philomathes ", 226. 
Pickering, Timothy, extract from, 430 ; 

letters of, 429, 483 ; letters to, 9, 121, 

142, 180, 483, 484 ; memoranda of, 

482 ; statement of, 481. 
Pinckney, Charles, 278. 
Pinckney, Charles C, 403. 
Pine, 473. 

" Pine Creek Declaration ", 473. 
Pitts, John, letter to, 222. 
Pittsfield, 390. 
Flam Truth, 91. 
Pleasonton, S., letter of, 287. 
Plumer, William, letter to, 118. 
Point Alderton, 264. 
Polk, Thomas, 28, 30, 376. 
Polk, William, 27; letter of, 375; 

statement of, 375. 
Port, Jane, 5. 
Portsmouth, 13, 270. 
Potts Grove, 550. 
Powars, Edward Eveleth, broadside 

(broadsides.?) of Declaration printed 

by, 571- 
Pratt (Lord Camden), 369. 
Price, Dr., 350. 
Price, Ezekial, extract from Diary of, 

568. 
Princeton, 244. 
Providence, 260. 
Purvience, Samuel, 271, 439. 



Q 

Quincy, Edmui. ^^^^^^ ^f^ ^g. 
Qumcy, Josiah, k.^^ ^^^ ^q^, 
Quincy, Josiah, Jr.j'^^^er of, 368. 

R 

Ramsay, David, Dr., 369 , letter of, 89. 
Randall ( .? ), Ben, 155. 
Randolph, Ben ( .? ), 455. 
Randolph, Edmund, 76; extracts from, 

n, 400. 

Randolph, John, letters to, 18, 19, 
Randolph, Martha (Jefferson;., Mrs., 

letter to, 601. 
Randolph, Peyton, 5, 6, 7, -^T, 382,, 384, 

386, 387, 421. 
Read, George, 6, 165, 193, 194, ;;;',oo, 

302, 303, 304, 410, 496, 506, 527, 53.',6; 

letters of, 61, 426; letter to, 497. 
Reed, Joseph, 66; letters of, 96, 103,^ 

226; letters to, 40, 71, 227. 
Remsen, Henry, 184. 
" Republicus ", article by, 445. 
Rhoads, Samuel, 6, 382. 
Rhode Island, 53, 258. 
Richardson, William, 272. 
Richmond, 273. 
Richmond, Duke of, 235. 
Richmond, William, 258. 
Rickman, Dr., 464, 465. 
Ritchie, Thomas, 24,351 ; letter to, 420. 
Rittenhouse, David, 192, 369, 551, 553, 

556. 
Roberdeau, Daniel, 61, ^^, 394, 492, 550. 
Rockingham, Marquis of, 235. 
Rodney, Csesar, 6, 44, 125, 166, 193, 

250, 300» 301. Z^li^ 304, 408, 410, 425* 

471, 496, 497, 527; letters of, 210, 

222, 393, 425, 497, 506, 544; letters 

to, 426, 506. 
Rodney, Caesar Augustus, letters of, 

496, 596 ; letters to, 301, 596. 
Rodney, Thomas, 527 ; extracts from 

Diary of, 507, 527 ; letters to, 210, 

222, 393, 425, 506, 544. 
Rogers, John, 37, 130, 164, 426, 436, 

437, 438^ 439, 576; letters of, 125, 

126, 431, 438. 



626 



INDEX 



Ross, George, 7, 64, 192, 194, 200, 299, 
302, 305, 385, 493. 

Rush, Benjamin, 9, 72, 91, 190, 192, 
194, 200, 218, 219, 299, 302, 305, 
447, 494 ; extracts from, 365, 369, 386, 
468; extracts from Diary of, 406, 
434; letters of, 225, 231, 406, 527; 
letters to, 20, 71, 89; statement of, 
381 ; statement to, 33. 

Rush, Richard, letter to, 447. 

Russell, Ezekiel, broadside of Dec- 
laration printed by, 569. 

Rutledge, Edward, 6, 103, 106, in, 123, 
158, 164, 198, 219, 403, 404, 488, 493, 
501, 509; letters of, 116, 139, 276; 
letter to, 515. 

Rutledge, John, 6, 278, 279, 365, 403, 
404, 412, 423, 447, 509. 



Sandwich, Earl of, 235. 

Savannah, 279. 

Schuyler, Philip, 37, 412, 514, 518; 

letter to, 564. 
Scituate, 390. 
Scollay, John, letter of, 8. 
Scott, Morin, 366, 517. 
Sergeant, Jonathan D., 5, 57, 104, 123, 

124, 392 ; letters of, 57, 58, 59, 124; 

letter to, 433. 
Sewell, David, 269. 
Seymour, Thomas, letter of, 253. 
Shee, John, 254. 
Sherman, Roger, 4, 6, 44, 103, 120, 122, 

143, 144, 164, 218, 219; letter to, 519. 
Sherburne, Samuel, 270, 368. 
Simpson, John, 274. 
Small, William, Dr., letter to, 33. 
Smith, Benjamin, 391. 
Smith, David, 275. 
Smith, David, 391. 
Smith, Elizabeth, Mrs,, letter to, 14. 
Smith, James, 190, 192, 194, 200, 299, 

302, 305. 494 ; letter of, 494. 
Smith, John, 272. 
Smith, John, 563. 
Smith, Joseph, 391. 



Smith, Meriwether, 76, 398, 399, 402. 

Smith, Nathaniel, 272. 

Smith, Philiip, 278. 

Smith, Richard, 6, 57, 58, 432 ; extracts 

from Diary of, 54, loi, 102, 104, 383, 

392, 402, 501, 511. 
Smith, Roger, 278. 
Smith, tavern of, 5, 455, 456. 
Smith, Thomas, 66, 192. 
Smith, William, 186. 
Smith, William, 272. 
Smith, William, Rev., 102. 
Somerset County, 443. 
Southampton, 263, 390. 
South Carolina, 87, 163, 166, 276, 428. 
Southwick, Solomon, broadsides of 

Declaration printed by, 568. 
Spain, 239. 
Sparhawk, 455, 456. 
Spooner, Walter, 269. 
St. Christophers, 232. 
St. Clair, Arthur, 254. 
St. John's Indians, 262. 
St. John's Parish, 281. 
St. Pierre, 549. 
Stearns, William, 473. 
Stephen, Adam, letter of, 71. 
Sterrett, John, 272. 
Stockbridge, 390. 
Stockton, Richard, 124, 158, 159, 161, 

164, 215; letter of, 215. 
Stockton, Richard, son, letter of, 161. 
Stone, Eliab, Rev., 570. 
Stone, Thomas, 36, 130, 164, 219, 436, 

437, 439, 53O' 575, 576; letters of, 

69, 125, 126, 438, 529. 
Stone, W. J., facsimile of Declaration 

by, 289, 584. 
Stoutenberg, Tobias, 4. 
Sullivan, John, 5, 6, 384. 
Sussex County, 435. 
Swindt, Dr., 404. 



Talbot County, 442. 
Taunton, 390. 
Taylor, Colonel, 94. 
Taylor, George, 192, 194, 200, 299, 302, 
305, 494- 
627 



/ 



INDEX 



Taylor, John, 269. 
Taylor, John, letter to, 70. 
Tennent, William, Rev., 278. 
Thibou, Lewis, 182. 
Thomas, Isaiah, 262, 569. 
Thompson, Ebenezer, 133. 
Thompson, James, 82. 
Thompson, John, hatter, story of, 145, 

178. 
Thomson, Charles, 7, loi, 109, no, 

204, 208, 415, 417, 419, 463, 476; 

letter of, 468 ; letter to, 467. 
Thornton, Matthew, 133, 194, 200, 207, 

210, 299, 302, 305. 
Ticonderoga, 254. 
Tilghman, Edward, letter of, 410. 
Tilghman, James, 271, 395. 
Tilghman, Matthew, 6, 7, 127, 129, 

272, 436, 437» 439> 530, 576; letters 

of, 125, 438. 
Topsfield, 390. 
Towne, 456. 

Townsend, Barkley, 443. 
Townshend, Thomas, The Right Hon- 
orable, 237. 
Townshend, Lord, 564. 
Trenton, 244. 
Trinity Church, 566. 
Trumbull, John, painting of, 202, 203. 
Trumbull, Jonathan, 56, 240, 257 ; 

letters of, 14, 211, 212, 515, 539, 567; 

letter to, 253. 
Trumbull, Joseph, 257 ; letters of, 211, 

567. 
Tryon, Gov., 515 ; letter of, 255. 
Tucker, Dean, 93. 
Tucker, Samuel, letter to, 498. 
Tufts, Simon, Dr., 434. 
Tyringham, 390. 



U 



Upright, Philip, 472. 
Urban, Sylvanus, 232. 



Van Cortlfl dt, Pierre, 489. 
Van Vorsi, Cornelius, 563. 



Vaughan, John, letter of, 600 ; letters 

to, 344» 346, 480, 481. 
Vergennes, de, Count, 238; letter to, 

547. 
Virginia, 11, 18, 70, 90, 96, 240, 273. 

W 

Walker, Hugh, 455. 

Walker, Timothy, 133. 

Wallace, James W., Dr., letter of, 
601 ; letter to, 345. 

Waller's grove, 80. 

Walpole, 390. 

Walsh, Robert, letter to, 178. 

Walter, Dr., letter to, 225. 

Walton, George, 164, 215, 216, 219, 
404, 405, 412, 541 ; letter of, 162, 
216. 

Ward, Artemas, 240, 262. 

Ward, Henry, letters to, 382, 391. 

Ward, Samuel, 6, 54, 136, 410; ex- 
tracts from Diary of, 386 ; letter of, 
382 ; letter to, 54. 

Warren, Joseph, Dr., 33, 268 ; extracts 
from, 14. 

Warren, James, 48, 54, 389 ; letters to, 
34, 44, 46, 75' 107, 123, 138, 217, 220, 
223, 389, 470. 

Warren, Mercy (Mrs. James), letters 
to, 159, 206, 423, 434. 

Washington, George, 3, 6, 9, 14, 40, 41, 
80, 194, 232, 240, 252, 259, 261, 262, 
264, 268, 302, 383, 413, 419, 447, 547, 
552, 566; letters of, 8, 40, 71, 253, 
262, 413, 564; letters to, 18 (.?), 35, 70, 
75> 96, 137. 211, 212, 229, 258, 396, 
417, 431, 448 ; orders of, 252, 562. 

Washington, John Augustine, 76; 
letters of, 73, 77, 402 ; letter to, 413. 

Washington, Martha (Mrs. George), 
229. 

Watanga, river, 395. 

Waterhouse, Benjamin, Dr., letter to, 

431- 
Watertown, 262, 267, 390. 
Weare, Meshech, 133 ; letter of, 270 ; 

letters to, 132, 393, 444. 
Webster, Daniel, letter of, 290. 



628 



INDEX 



Weightman, Roger C, Mayor, letter 
to, 585, 

Wells, Edward, 462. 

Wells, George, 272. 

Wells, Samuel A., letters of, 195, 200; 
letters to, 196, 202. 

Wentworth, John, 133. 

West River, 442. 

Weymouth, Lord Viscount, 235. 

Wharton, 526. 

Wharton, Carpenter, letter of, 498. 

Wharton, Charles C, letter to, 587. 

Wharton, Thomas, Jr., 550, 552, 553. 

Whetcomb, John, 269. 

Whipple, William, 164, 536, 541 ; let- 
ters of, 132, 138, 221, 391, 393, 444, 
536, 562; letter to, 215. 

White, Benjamin, 269. 

White, Bishop, 447. 

White Hall Tavern, 244. 

White Plains, 54. 

Wigglesworth, Colonel, 563. 

Wilcocks, Alexander, 61, 64, 66. 

Wilkes, John, 236. 

Williams, Joseph John, 274. 

Williams, William, 37, 56, 216, 257, 
539, 567; letters to, 211, 539. 

Williamsburg, 273. 

Williamstown, 390. 

Willing, Thomas, 36, 61, 103, 164, 194, 
200, 300, 302, 303, 516. 

Willis, Nathaniel, broadside (broad- 
sides ?) of Declaration printed by, 

571. 
Willson, Jonathan, 440. 
Wilson, Ensign, 251. 
Wilson, James, 37, loi, 102, 103, 104, 

III, 117, 162, 164, 192, 218, 219, 300, 

303, 407, 493, 526. 
Wilton, 563. 
Wilton, Joseph, 562. 



Winchendon, 390. 

Winder, William H., letter to, 287. 

Winthrop, John, 269, 409; letters of, 

$0, 52. 
Wisner, Henry, 7, 140, 165, 194, 300, 

302, 305, 514, 517; letters of, 183, 

184, 185, 186, 517; letter to, 221. 
Witherspoon, John, Dr., 5, 124, 158, 

159, 162, 164, 218, 219, 226, 392, 466, 

467,486; letter of, 518; sermon of, 

60. 
Wolcott, Oliver, 2,1, 103, 211; extract 

from, 562; letters of, 211, 212, 40S, 

411,537,538. 
Wombwell, 236. 
WoodhuU, Nathaniel, 183, 489 ; letter 

to, 183. 
Woodward, Augustus B., letter to, 451. 
Wooster, David, loi, 495. 
Wootton, Thomas S., 440. 
Worcester, 267, 390. 
Wrenham, 390. 
Wrixon, E., loi. 
Wycombe, Lord, 235. 
Wythe, George, 37, 70, 99, 102, 104, 

113, 147, 148, 178, 212, 214, 350, 384, 

541 ; draft of Declaration sent to, 

347, 348, 350; letters of, 148, 215, 

540. 



Yard, Mrs., Preface, 492. 
Yates, Abraham, 186. 
Yates, Robert, letter of, 51$. 
Young, Dr., letter of, 391. 



Zubly, J. J., Rev., n, 383, 404, 510: 
letter of, 511. 



629 



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